Replication
by ScifiTrash
Summary: Scar escapes alive from Hirai taking Lex and their son Selim with him, but a serious head injury puts Lex in a coma. Will she ever wake up? And how will they survive now they are both outcast from the clan? Set four and a half years on from Deviation. I still don't own Scar or Lex. Rated M for adult content. If you enjoy it, please follow, favourite and review!
1. Chapter 1

Four and a half years later….

Scar sat at the controls of the shuttle and stared gloomily out over the endless vista of space, spattered with uncountable stars. He was bored, bored and depressed. Already he had cleaned, primed and sharpened every weapon in his considerable arsenal. He had checked and rechecked the ship's running systems. In the absence of any other useful activity, he fell to brooding. Now there was nothing to do except wait and even though he'd learned to be good at waiting the time seemed to ooze by so slowly he could hardly stand it.

 _"I have endured longer periods of forced inactivity,"_ He told himself _"The many times I was locked in the brig or crippled in the infirmary were worse than this. At least now I know that I could end this if I so chose."_ His jaws curled up unhappily _"Of course, so choosing would have consequences..."_

The consequences would be more severe than he cared to imagine. In fact, the situation was becoming desperate. He knew the shuttle was in a poor state of repair, both the air recycling unit and the engine would need parts replacing any day now. The power storage cells were virtually burned out, if he did not find an enemy ship soon to attack and plunder, things would start to look very bleak indeed. He needed another craft he could cannibalize for spare parts. Though it would hopefully make it back to the planetoid, his ship would very likely cease to function shortly thereafter. It would certainly not be able to take off again unless he could carry out some urgent repairs.

 _"Then what?"_ He thought _"I shall be stranded on that pointless rock; stuck waiting around on the off chance some ship will land there!"_

Things were not made any better by the fact that presently his food supply on board the shuttle was going to run out, then he would have to return to the planetoid whether his mission was successful or not.

He rose to his feet, jigging up and down restlessly, trying to shake out some of the tension in his limbs. After such a long period of inertia he felt agitated – a crackling mass of frustrated energy. He stretched to his full height, extending his talons, trying to wriggle more comfortably into the tight black spacesuit he was wearing. Even at full stretch, he was still not able to quite touch the roof of the craft. It had, after all, been built to accommodate yautja larger than him. He and Lex had stolen it off his own clan, the Rough Skulls, who had themselves originally stolen it from a rival clan – the Bad Bloods.

Lex… his eye was drawn to the medi-pod and he stood lost in thought for a moment. He remembered how small and fragile she'd looked lying inside it; the tubes running from her, the dark pits under her eyes, the way her face had started to look hollow and thin towards the end. How their son Selim cried for his mother, his screams echoing around the cockpit so long and so loud Scar had felt like he would go insane.

The large metal sarcophagus now stood dark and empty.

 _"It is no use thinking of Lex and Selim,"_ He told himself _"They are not here and there is no sense in dwelling on it. It just serves to make me melancholy. I need to concentrate on the task in front of me."_

At that moment the shuttle's radar chirruped, making him spin round. _"A ship!"_ He crossed to the console and tapped a control _"Even better; a Bad Blood ship, which means compatible parts. And they are all alone,"_ He purred to himself _"How convenient!"_

Pressing the button that engaged the shuttles weapons he switched to silent running and waited patiently, knowing that the ships superior camouflage capability would keep him hidden from the enemy until it was too late. Even though their own cloak was engaged, his instruments could still zero in on their heat signal easily. It was clearly an old model unit, even though they had originally stolen the superior devices from the Bad Bloods _"I_ _guess they have not managed to upgrade all their shuttles yet, I wonder if our little skirmish against them has anything to do with that!"_ He thought with some satisfaction, remembering how he and the rest of the Rough Skull squad had destroyed the Bad Bloods base of operations on Hirai.

Everyone on that squad was long dead now _"Not that I mourn them… excepting Rika of course."_

He held off until they were almost on him. As they came comfortably within his range he opened fire, targeting the engines. He wasn't happy at having to do it this way – the engines were one of the parts of the ship that he hoped to salvage – but he had to disable them quickly, before they realised what was going on. His own crafts display flashed a warning as the sensors detected the enemy ship's targeting system trying to lock onto his location. He needed to move.

He fired up the engines and the craft shot forward, screaming past the Bad Blood ship. Scar pulled it around in a tight curve and swung round back on the offensive, zeroing in on their cooling system this time. He fired again and grinned to himself to see a small explosion. It didn't look like much with no atmosphere but he knew that if he could see it from here it must be pretty bad. With any luck that explosion would be a lot worse inside the shuttle where there was oxygen to burn.

His complacency had been premature. As he sped past them again, a burst of plasma came from the Bad Blood vessel and struck his right hand engine a glancing blow. The ship lurched to one side and the green warning light began to flash on the console.

He cursed and brought the shuttle around, bearing down on them _"Clearly they need a little more subduing!"_

He fired on them again and this time he must have scored a direct hit; the enemy shuttle's engine burners flickered and died. The ship lost momentum and began to drift, floating aimlessly through the clouds of glimmering vapour.

Scar didn't waste any time. As soon as he saw the ship's lights go dark he flipped on the autopilot and pulled on the long black space helmet, fastening his plasma sidearm into a holster on his leg where it would be easily accessible.

In truth, this was not Scar's first foray into piracy. He'd done this so many times now he felt he'd got it down to a fine art, and the superior camouflage made it almost too easy. Normally he found this an enjoyable diversion – it was good enough sport picking off rival clan ships, enough of a challenge to keep him entertained – but for some reason, today he was filled with an odd sort of foreboding.

 _"The damage to the right engine is just a minor setback,"_ He told himself _"The important thing is to get the parts I need and get out before my air processor and the engines stop working – then I will be comprehensively fucked."_

He hefted the giant grappling gun and stepped into the airlock. Despite everything, he could not stop himself from grinning as he anchored himself to the side of the ship _"No matter how many times I do it,"_ He thought _"I still enjoy using this weapon more than any other_. _I suppose I must have a weakness for big projectiles."_

He fired at the other ship and when he saw the magnetic grapple attach itself to the hull; he waited until the chain pulled taught. When it became apparent that the grapple could take the strain he began to pull himself across. He felt the seductive surge of excitement sweeping through him as he reached the other ship. Switching on the magnetism in his boots he climbed across to the airlock, pulling out another one of his favourite toys; a limpet mine. Not about to waste time cutting through the hull, he activated the mine, slapped it onto the airlock and retreated as quickly as he could.

From outside the ship the explosion was only a disappointing fizzle in the vacuum of space, but it was followed by the gale of out rushing air that he knew must mean the lock had definitely been breached.

When all the air had gone, he crawled along the surface of the shuttle reaching tentatively around the ragged edge of the hole the explosive had made. Pulling himself into the cockpit he took a look around. The chaos in here reassured him; the crew had to be dead. The shuttle was filled with clouds of floating debris, shards of glass and chunks of twisted metal hung here and there, twirling slowly in the airless space of the cabin.

Avoiding the largest fragments he made his way to the back of the cockpit where he knew the air processing unit was located. There was one Bad Blood, huge, suited but with no helmet, strapped into the pilot seat. Another suited and with its helmet on hung there limply in the eerie stillness, as if floating underwater. Both seemed lifeless. A quick check around the rest of the ship revealed no other inhabitants. It took him a matter of minutes to disconnect the power cells and recycling unit and remove them from their housing. Strapping the cells in place across his back he slipped through the hatch and pulled himself across the gap between the two ships. Unfortunately it would take two trips to get everything he needed – the power cells and the recyc unit were too big for him to be able to take them both across in one go. Of course without gravity they weren't heavy but they were unwieldy and he needed his hands free to manoeuvre.

He deposited the power cells in his own shuttle and went back again, pulling himself along hand over hand as fast as he could. For some reason his mood was still dark and getting darker, blacker than the huge void of space that surrounded him – lit as it was by glittering stars and iridescent gas. He felt as if clouds of choking vapour were pressing in on him from all sides and he couldn't understand why. Even the thrill of defeating an enemy – usually a reliable antidote for any negative tremor of emotion – had not served to chase his unease away.

As he entered the ruined airlock again he grabbed hold of the recyc unit, now intent on completing this raid and getting himself out of here as quickly as possible. He'd shoved it under the console to keep it from floating away and had to wrestle a bit to get it out from under there.

As he finally pulled the unit free he suddenly caught sight of motion in his peripheral vision. His head whipped round to see the helmeted figure was moving. Before he could even process what he was seeing pure instinct had bypassed his conscious mind and mainlined a huge jolt of adrenaline into his veins, hot wiring him into action. He dropped the unit and snatched his sidearm from its holster, hurling himself to one side as he did so. The barrel of his own plasma cannon felt like it was coming up in slow motion. He watched in horror as the leech's gun rose towards his chest.

There was a burst of blinding hot whiteness…

* * *

The hunter had been stalking his prey all through the afternoon, but now the light was fading and he was beginning to tire of the pursuit. He was observing the child now from a vantage point in the lower level of the jungle canopy. A small target but at least he seemed to be armed. That was good.

He watched as the boy ran around the clearing pretending to shoot at things; frogs, insects, birds. The weapon in the little hand he recognised as a thing rather vulgarly called a 'bug thumper'. It was a thick, black, metal-tipped stick about two feet long with a rubber grip at the end. It looked like a small, thin club but in actual fact it was capable of delivering a sizeable electrical shock if discharged whilst in contact with a living thing. It was intended to be used as a controlling device for the hard meat. The _kainde amedhe_ used electro-magnetic frequencies to navigate, to sense other life forms. Hitting them with a sizeable dose of electricity incapacitated them, temporarily scrambling their brains. A big enough jolt could paralyse them, turn their limbs to jelly and cause them to collapse, but the device was adjustable depending on your purpose. It could shock the hard meat just enough to pacify them or prod them in the right direction if you were trying to herd them, to capture them alive or stun them cold if you just wanted to transport them quickly or kill them.

To a yautja it could cause serious inconvenience.

He noticed that the boy had not yet used the weapon during his games so it would be fully charged and ready to fire. At least this little one will be able to offer some sort of token resistance, he told himself.

The boy's mother might have presented more of a challenge but she was too distracted to have perceived the threat. He had followed them through the jungle and all the way back here to their ship without their knowledge. Now she was engrossed in some mechanical repair work and had been so occupied for several units. Her firearm lay nearby… but not near enough. If he attacked it was too distant for her to be able to reach it in time.

She also had not noticed that the boy's wanderings were currently taking him further and further away from her, closer to the tree line, making him vulnerable.

He stood up decisively amidst the concealing greenery of the branches. He had been biding his time but now he decided it was time to bring this to a close. Camouflaged as he was, he knew it was very unlikely that either of them would see him before it was too late.

Stealthily he began to advance on his targets, moving through the lower canopy so that no snapping twig or rustling leaf litter would betray his presence. When he reached the edge of the clearing he dropped silently to the ground.

He knew his landing had made no noise but some sixth sense must have warned the boy. He drew closer to his mother, the wide orbit of his play shrinking to bring him much nearer to where she knelt, puzzling over a piece of machinery. As the hunter advanced, she sat back from her work and pushed her long dark hair out of her eyes with one grimy hand. He paused for a moment, watching her closely to see if the movement betrayed an awareness of his presence but she quickly bent back to her task, oblivious.

The child now crouched on the forest floor, a short way behind her. He was still fiddling with the bug thumper, using the weapon to push bits of leaf litter around on the ground, forming them into little piles.

Prowling towards them, he was now within arm's reach of his marks _"This,"_ He told himself disappointedly _"Is going to be much too easy!"_

Then, as he tensed to spring, the little boy suddenly leapt to his feet and pointed the bug thumper right at him "I know you're there!" He yelled "Get away from my Mother!"

The hunter froze; the metal tip was actually touching his chest! He pulled up short and braced for the impact but the boy did not activate the weapon.

He deactivated his cloaking device wondering if the child might be intimidated into dropping the shocker. To his credit, the boy stood his ground but he did not discharge the bug stick. What was he waiting for?

At the same time the woman's head turned and _she_ froze as she saw him too. Now she realised this was not part of her son's game… only now it was much too late for her to reach the gun.

He waited for a few seconds, the tip of the thumper still resting against his skin. When no current came he lashed out, smacking it easily out of the boy's grasp and sending it flying across the clearing and into the ferns. In another easy movement he backhanded the child, knocking him to the floor.

Immediately the woman was on her feet.

"Alright Scar," She said "That's enough!"

* * *

Lex put herself between Scar and the boy, arms folded as she stared up at him "What are you trying to do, knock the poor kid unconscious?" She said icily.

 _"_ In the name of the bitch goddess female, I barely touched him!" Scar said dismissively, pulling his mask off "Selim would not be… damaged by such a little tap, would you… _Mei'Sika?" {translation: 'My male offspring/ My son'}_

"No Mother, look I am alright!" Selim {pronounced: Sell-LEEM} got up hastily and smiled, really wanting to placate both his parents. "See?"

She looked in his eyes and smoothed a bit of leaf litter from his brow, slightly mollified that he appeared to be unhurt.

At just over four and a half years old he was already taller and bigger than most human children his age and she knew now that he would never be able to pass as human. The older he got, the more the characteristics of his father's species were becoming dominant in his face; it was getting broader, his brows much more scaly and jagged. The tusks jutting from his chin on either side of his jaw were longer. Two more tusks had now emerged (in a process every bit as painful as teething) from under his skin either side of his top lip. Additionally he sported a mane of short pointed spikes and a mouth full of sharp white teeth, which gave him a vampiric look when his pouty, childish lips parted in a grin as they were doing now.

His eyes were his most arresting feature. Scar's eyes were the same vivid yellow colour and the same feline shape but something in his expression gave them a diabolical, fiendish appearance. In Selim's face the same eyes were still inhuman but innocent, huge and luminous; quite beautiful.

 _"You see, he is unhurt!"_ Scar said _"He has my thick skull."_

Lex ignored this "You seem okay," She said to Selim, still enraged with his father "But that's not the point! If you have to play stalking games, you have got to be more careful." This last was directed at Scar, who bristled angrily.

 _"Game?!"_ He growled at her _"This is not a **game** ; I am trying to teach him something important." _He fixed his son with a baleful glare _"Selim! You had me dead cold! You were doing well and then…what? Y_ _ou did not use the weapon!_ _"_

"Lucky for you!" Lex said behind him.

 _"Shut up!"_ Scar replied irritably. He turned back to the boy _"And so? Explain."_

 _"I do not know…_ " Selim mumbled and looked at the ground for a moment.

 _"Mei'Sika, what happened? Did you lose your nerve?"_ His father persisted " _Do not tell me you do not know because I do not believe you."_

"Well…." Selim twisted and squirmed under his fathers' scrutiny "I was worried I might hurt you Daddy."

 _"Selim, I have told you before not to call me by this human pet name. It is disrespectful."_

 _"I just forgot!"_ Selim said, rather sulkily. English had been the first language of his babyhood as it was his mother's primary language and sometimes when he was upset he fell into it.

 _"You forgot, what?"_

 _"I forgot, Mei'Savir." {translation: 'Sire/ Father'}_

 _"Remember next time!"_ His father said sharply, then he sighed _"Selim I have explained this to you. That puny bug zapper cannot seriously injure me! I only gave it to you to practise with. If you are threatened by an adult male you cannot afford to hesitate. You must strike as soon as you have the opportunity! Another yauta would have killed both you and your mother by now."_

"Not if I had anything to do with it." She said, glaring at him.

"Do not confuse him." Scar replied in English, then reverting to his own language, he turned back to the child _"Nevertheless, you did well… up to a point. But you let me get much too close to you. I could easily have got a grip or used my blades on you."_

 _"I was waiting for you to get near enough to use the thumper!"_ Selim protested.

 _"So you should have used it!"_ Scar snarled, and his son looked at the floor again, biting his lower lip.

"Well, it's getting late so here endeth the lesson." Lex brushed her oily hands on her knees "Let's put all these engine parts back on board. It's nearly dark so I don't think I'm going to get any further with my own lesson today."

 _"Still trying to work out how to fix the right hand turbine?"_ Scar regarded her with mild amusement _"Why do you not let me do it?"_

 _"Because I want to learn how to do it myself."_

 _"That is going to take too long!"_ He protested _"We have already been here seven days – we need the engine back up and running."_

Lex hoisted one of the huge engine turbine blades up onto her shoulders "Well, we can't all be as wonderful at everything as you, can we?" She retorted, in caustic tones "Selim, inside now!" And she strode off towards their ship, the Chameleon – the name she had chosen because of its superior camouflage ability. Their son followed her obediently.

Scar clicked to himself in exasperation as he watched them go. He knew her much too well by now to think that would be the last he'd hear of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Selim was relieved that he had managed to smooth things over before a serious argument could get going. He had overheard his parents fighting before and didn't like to admit it, but the experience had distressed him. The things he'd heard had made him want to crawl under his bed to hide.

"I am not an infant," He told himself "I should not be afraid!" But still he lay there petrified. In the end he'd settled for pulling his blanket over his head and eventually had fallen asleep.

Even now the memory troubled him. Selim had a naturally cheerful nature and his parents were his whole world. He idolised his mother; she was the most wonderful, the kindest, funniest, cleverest person in the universe, the person who made everything alright. And brave, Selim knew she was brave.

"Your mother is small but she is … formidable." His father had told him once, in human language.

"Formid-dable? What is that word?" Selim had asked him.

"It means …do not … mess with her." His father had said, grinning.

Selim liked the word "My mother is formidable." He said to himself proudly, for the rest of that day. It was the word he always thought of when he thought of her.

His father…. Selim sometimes lay awake at night wishing he could grow up just like him. In Selim's eyes he was all-powerful; an almost godlike figure. He could hunt and kill any animal, no matter how ferocious. He sometimes felt he'd almost burst with impatience before he learned to do all the things his father could. Some of the things he had told Selim about the creatures he and his mother had hunted in the past made him feel cold all over. He could never imagine his father being afraid of anything. "Why would you ever be afraid when you are almost invincible?" Selim wondered.

If he was honest, he also found him a tiny bit scary. Mei'Savir had never properly lost his temper with Selim, not really. He'd never seen him be like he had been the time he overheard the fight, when he'd been so angry with his mother. Then… oh, then Selim had been glad he wasn't in the room because even just hearing him through the wall had been truly terrifying. His voice was deafeningly loud, roaring and snarling a lot of awful words in his own language. He could hear his Mother yelling back at him and wondered how she could dare. They had said a lot of things to each other he didn't understand, but they sounded very terrible. There were awful noises that sounded like things being thrown around and he wondered if they were fighting for real, not just with words.

The next day he'd woken up and everything was just normal "They both seem happy this morning," He thought, puzzled "Just like it was all a dream. Maybe they forgot about it already."

He had tried to forget it too – who knew why adults acted as they did? Mostly, as long as the twin deities in his life were in harmony with each other, everything was right with the world.

Things weren't right with his world today, not now Selim had managed to ruin everything and shame himself and reveal his cowardice in front of his father.

It had started out so well: Selim had been pestering Mei'Savir for a very long time to be allowed to go out hunting bigger game and finally he'd managed to convince him. They went hunting all the time of course. "But we just hunt birds and crocodiles – little creatures!" Selim had said pettishly "Nothing really big and fierce."

His mother smiled at him "That's because you're not big and fierce yet." She said tickling him and making him squirm "Look at your skinny chest!"

" _Mei'Varsi!"{trans: Mother}_ He said irritably in hunter's language, which he always thought made him sound more grown up _"I am big and fierce; I am almost five years old!"_

There was a short burst of purring laugher from his father. He was sitting in the pilot's chair, feet up on the console as he sharpened his wrist blades.

" _He needs to learn sometime how to defend himself."_ He stopped what he was doing to look at Selim appraisingly _"He is big enough,"_ He said eventually _"He may as well start now."_

"He's too young for that sort of thing!" His mother had said.

" _I am not!"_ Selim protested.

" _He is not."_ His father said with finality _"If he wants to, why stop him? It has to be done sometime and it had better be done sooner than later."_

And this was how they'd come to play at stalking. Selim writhed with shame and misery as he remembered it "Now I have spoiled everything by showing him my weakness!" He thought "He will never believe I can do anything now!"

Lex noticed Selim seemed very quiet that evening. He'd often been like that recently; quiet and withdrawn. She watched him anxiously. He was usually so happy-go-lucky by nature but just lately something seemed to be troubling him. He was not his usual self. She went into his room to take the bug shocker off him before he went to bed. He was so subdued she sat down next to him.

"Is everything alright Selim?" She asked him finally, as he was getting ready to sleep "Are you upset about something?"

Her son looked up at her with those huge, candid eyes. She could see he _was_ upset.

"Father is not happy with me," He said miserably "Because I did not use the bug stick. Now he thinks I am a coward."

Silently she cursed Scar and yautja machismo "I'm sure he doesn't." She said softly "You didn't want to hurt him, I'm sure he understands."

"But I _was_ afraid!" The boy said, his voice quavering slightly "I do not know why! It was like I was frozen, like… I could not move!"

"Well it's alright to be scared, everybody gets scared sometimes."

" _He_ doesn't!" Selim said and it hurt her to see how hard he was trying not to cry " _He_ is never afraid of anything! And now he thinks I am a coward!"

She put her arms around him and held him for a minute and felt his breathing a little uneven as he gulped back the sobs. She knew he hated anyone to see him cry. Even though he wasn't yet five, he had already absorbed some of the Spartan code of behaviour that his father's species lived by. Try as she might to counteract the harshness of the yautja philosophy, there just didn't seem to be any getting away from it.

When his shoulders became steady she looked him in the face "Listen Selim," She said "Everyone – including your father – feels fear at some time in their life. Maybe they don't always show it, but they do. It doesn't make you a coward. You ask him if he's ever been afraid. I'm sure he'd tell you the truth." ("Or I'll kill him!" She thought furiously)

Selim was impressed "It must have been something really scary, if he was afraid!"

She sighed hopelessly at the undisguised hero-worship ringing in every word. How could she tell him that besides being brave his father could also be an arrogant, insensitive, stubborn bully who thought it was his divinely bestowed right to bend everyone else to his will. She couldn't say that when the boy idolised him so much.

"You just have to remember that your father," She said, choosing her words with care "Was brought up in a totally different way to me, so we see things very differently. Where I grew up there is nothing wrong with showing fear sometimes, when you have a good reason."

"What do you mean brought up differently?"

"Well hun – I mean, _yautja –_ like your father is, aren't brought up by their parents."

Her son's yellow eyes widened "Where did he grow up?"

"On a big spaceship full of other males like him."

"But why? Who looked after him?" He said, puzzled.

"The older males take the younger ones away from their parents so they can learn to fight from when they're very little children."

"I wish I could do that," Selim said breathlessly "Then I would be really amazing at fighting too!"

"Well then you wouldn't live with me _or_ him," She said, trying to hide her smile "But maybe you'd prefer that? Should I send you?"

"Oh, no!" Her son's face fell "I never want to leave you Mom – I mean, _Mei'Varsi_!"

"Well that's good. You'll just have to stay with me then." She hugged him and kissed the top of his head "And you can still call me Mommy if you want to. _I_ don't mind human pet names."

Lex closed the door to Selim's room determined to go and confront Scar, she couldn't let him continue to upset the boy like this.

"Most of the time he's good with him," She reminded herself, trying to keep calm. It was true, she had to remember that. Of the two of them, it was he who spent the most time satisfying Selim's almost endless appetite for rowdy physicality. He indulged Selim's fondness for mock-fighting, something she found harder to do because even though he was still a child Selim had inherited the greater size, strength and durability of his father's species and he hadn't yet learned to control his movements enough to keep from inflicting real harm.

It didn't bother his father; he let their son maul him, attack him and clamber all over him, encouraged it in fact. Although he would retaliate ("He is not going to learn anything if I do not fight back!" He would shrug if she objected) he would restrain himself enough to keep from seriously hurting him.

He also took Selim hunting most days. There was no point telling him not to do so "Might as well tell him not to breath in and out!" She thought resignedly. At least she knew she could trust him to keep Selim safe. Sometimes she went with them, sometimes she didn't. Sometimes they were gone for hours and came back soaked to the skin, or plastered in mud or worse, blood – though it was generally not their own. Then Selim would give her a long and enthusiastically detailed account of everything that had happened that day.

"You have to see the crocodile we caught Mother!" He had told her breathlessly the previous week "He jumped up out of the swamp right in front of us and he was snapping his teeth like this!" Selim clapped his hands together.

"Sounds dangerous!" She rested her chin on her hand "So what did you do?"

"I dropped my snare over his head and he pulled me into the water because he was so strong and all I could hear was this whooshing noise in my ears."

"Oh no!" She put a hand over her mouth in mock terror, though she could see he was perfectly alright "And what happened next?"

"Father pulled me out of the water and then grabbed him by the head and squeezed his jaws together!" Selim was on his feet now, exuberantly acting out everything "And then the crocodile tried to pull him under the water, but he pulled him back out and stabbed him in the eye! And then he cut his throat with the dah'kte!" Selim finished by drawing his finger across his throat making a squelching noise with his mouth, clearly meant to indicate throat cutting "And then he was dead, so we brought him back to show you."

She arched an eyebrow at his father "You wrestled a crocodile?"

He grinned at her, almost as much of a naughty child as his son _"Only a small one, hardly worth mentioning really."_

"He was **not** small!" Selim had spluttered indignantly, outraged at his father's efforts to downplay the drama of his story "Mommy he was _enormous!_ His jaws were so big he could have eaten your whole head!" And he had stretched his arms wide to demonstrate the hugeness of the jaws.

Standing outside her son's room, she sighed and drew her hand over her eyes "He spends a lot of time with him and he does _try_ to teach him things. I know he would die to protect him. I just wish I knew what's gotten under his skin lately to make him act like such a – "

As she re-entered the cockpit, he was frowning over the engine parts that lay spread over an animal skin on the floor. He didn't look up when she came in _"You realise I could fix this quite easily, just as I have done already for the power cells and air recyc unit -"_ He said over his shoulder _"The turbine is not seriously damaged."_

She didn't answer right away but stood there tapping the bug thumper against her leg in agitation. Finally she said in English "What the hell is up with you right now?"

He turned "I do not… know what you mean."

"Why are you giving Selim such a hard time?"

"Of what are you… speaking?"

"I mean if you want him to grow up to hate your guts, you're going about it the right way!"

"I would rather … he hates me," He scowled at her and stood up "Than… let him grow up timid and weak because I have… failed to teach him proper discipline."

"Oh come on!" She spat "Don't give me that! You know as well as I do that you're his hero and you would be devastated if that ever changed so don't give me this _'I care for nothing but honour'_ routine. I know it's bullshit!"

" _I think perhaps you do not grasp my meaning,"_ He said, throwing himself down in the pilot seat and shifting into his own language as he always did when his temper started to rise _"Even now it is obvious to me that he has inherited my size and strength, but he does not have my disposition and that troubles me. He needs to go for the kill and not shrink."_

"No he doesn't, why should he? Selim's just a child!"She protested "He's a sweet boy, just because he's not aggressive by nature doesn't make him weak."

" _He is no longer an infant, he is growing up and if he is not naturally aggressive then he had better learn to be."_ He said savagely _"You tell me humans will not accept him but when he is grown the clan_ _ **might**_ _be persuaded to…_ _ **if**_ _he can show that he is fierce and pitiless. Yautja take whatever they are strong enough to take – I imagine it is the same for humans… if you would only admit it."_

" _We are not such worshippers of brutality as you are!"_

" _Is that so? Then why are you here with me and not with some placid human specimen?"_

" _I ask myself that same question all the time!"_

" _You know the reason; it is because such a creature would be of no use to a she-devil like you!"_ He purred _"What would he do; sit obediently at your feet like a pet?"_

She flushed with anger, riled by his assessment of her "I'm just saying there are different types of strength!"

" _And you know as well as I that only one type of strength counts for the Rough Skulls."_

" _What about Nar'Jat? He is your leader and you are definitely stronger than him – you are twice his size!"_

He snorted _"Nar'Jat did not become our leader by being_ 'sweet' _. What he lacks in size he makes up for in speed and cunning. He is without mercy or scruple. That is what Selim would be up against so he has to learn to be unflinching or he will not last a day. When I say that this matters more than selfish considerations about my son's good opinion of me, I am entirely serious."_

" _Good opinion?"_ She rolled her eyes _"He was miserable tonight because he is worried you think he is a coward. He was crushed! I suppose that is you being unselfish?"_

" _Is there a brain inside that tiny human skull of yours?"_ He demanded, making her eyes narrow with rage _"Just ask yourself for a moment what would have happened if I had truly been an enemy and Selim missed his chance to incapacitate me because he was afraid – do you think an enemy would hold back because he is a child? I noticed that your weapon was lying out of reach also."_

" _I knew you were around, and I am certain that if it had been anyone other than you, Selim_ _ **would**_ _have fired!"_

He curled his lower jaw in irritation _"He did not even know it_ _ **was**_ _me until I made myself visible, neither of you did!"_

"You really think I don't know when you're there?" She shot back "For God's sake Scar, what the hell has got into you recently? Why are you acting like this? You're a goddamn nightmare to be around right now!"

"Nightmare!?"He snarled _"Shall I tell you the_ 'nightmare' _that I have? It is that both of us are dead and Selim is left defenceless and alone without anyone to protect him!"_

" _Why do you suddenly think that we are going to die? Why should anything happen to either of us?"_

" _Is it really possible you have forgotten the many situations we have barely escaped with our lives?"_ His eyes glowed _"Nearly a hundred days I spent on this ship waiting for you to come out of your coma. What do you think that was like, hrrrrmmmm? Selim screaming and wailing for you like a soul in torment. Not knowing if you would ever wake up or if you would drift in the darkness forever … because you did not do as I asked!"_

" _If I_ _ **had**_ _done as you asked,"_ She retorted, stung by the accusation _"You would already be dead and Selim would already have one less parent than he has now – I did it to save your life, because you are his father!_ _Besides, that was years ago."_ She didn't like to be reminded of Hirai, of how close they had both come to dying. How she had missed the first three months of Selim's life. Her right hand still ached sometimes; it would probably never be quite the same.

" _What about the last time I took down a Bad Blood shuttle?"_ He waved a clawed hand at the damaged engine parts on the floor, awaiting her painstaking reassembly _"That was not years ago, that was days ago! They hit the engine. One of them was still alive when I boarded them. Had I not been quicker than him – "_

" _But you were!"_ She cut him off. She wasn't happy about the occasional sorties into piracy he had to make either, although she remembered angrily that it had been his idea. She had agreed to it because there were things they needed; medical supplies, weapons, spare parts. They couldn't both go, one of them had to stay with Selim. Even though she was now a more than competent pilot, she couldn't argue with his logic that it made more sense for him to do it. He was so much bigger and stronger than her. She couldn't argue but she didn't like him facing the danger alone and she always felt nauseous with worry that he wouldn't come back. She tried to hide it from Selim, but she got the feeling that he could tell anyway.

These opportunist crimes were always perpetrated against ships from a rival clan that strayed into the outer fringes of Rough Skull territory they generally inhabited. Even though they were no doubt classed as outlaws nowadays, she imagined that Nar'Jat would not take the trouble to police them as long as they stuck to attacking enemy ships. That was _useful._

" _It is not by my choice that we have to take risks."_ She said _"We have always had this precarious existence and you have never agonised about it before. What has changed?"_

" _What has changed is that I have now come to understand how grim the situation is!"_ He said bitterly _"Aside from us, Selim is alone. He has no allies, yautja or human, no clan to back him up; he does not even have – "_ His eyes narrowed _" – any siblings!"_

She put one hand over her eyes _"Not this again."_

" _What has changed,"_ He said with deliberate venom _"Is that I have realised I have only one child and I am never likely to have any more, because you do not want my offspring!"_

"What the hell are you talking about?" She said, unable to believe what she was hearing "It's fucking biology, Scar! I told you what Iversson said; that even the first time was a million to one chance. I can't just will myself pregnant because it's what you want!"

"Oh yes, Iver-sson, the human sssscientissst!" He sneered in unpleasantly sibilant English, rising to his feet " _The one who kept you in a cage… but still you believed her when she said our children would be born ailing and deformed! You can see that Selim is not sickly or weak or stupid – he is perfect! Yet even though you know she was wrong still she has you so afraid that you have decided not to get pregnant!"_

" _I have_ _ **decided**_ _?"_ She said, stunned in the face of this irrational paranoia _"How could I stop it happening without you knowing?"_

" _Some filthy, human trick! Some female trick! I do not doubt there are means_ _ **you**_ _would know of which_ _ **I**_ _would not!"_

" _So this is what you think of me?"_ She said, seething at the unfairness of the accusation _"Deceitful and conniving! You think I have been lying to you all along, is that it?"_

" _I think all that and worse!"_ He turned on her _"But whatever underhand duplicity you are using to stop me from fertilising you, sooner or later I will do it!"_ He lunged at her suddenly, making a grab for her wrist.

She leapt backwards _"Do not touch me, I warn you S'Kia!"_ She shouted at him _"You are not coming near me if you cannot control your temper!"_

" _COME HERE!"_ He roared and lunged at her again, past listening to reason. This time she was expecting it.

She swung the hand holding the bug shocker towards him and pressed the trigger, letting him have it right in the centre of his chest. A bright blue spark leapt across the space between them. The force of the current slammed him backwards against the wall where he collapsed, arms and legs twitching before finally becoming still. There was a faint smell of burning in the air.

She stood there breathing deeply for a moment, looking at the end of the stick in astonishment. The weapon was on its lowest setting.

"Puny bug zapper my ass!" She said.


	3. Chapter 3

" _Are you sane yet?"_

Scar's eyelids flickered open and he looked up to find Lex kneeling on his chest. He made as if to rise.

"Ah, ah, ah!" She held up a warning finger "No sudden moves. I still have this, remember?" She flourished a black cylinder in his face and he became still as his slitted pupils focussed on it.

It took him a moment to piece together what had happened in the last few seconds _"You shocked me with the bug stick?!"_ He said incredulously.

"Damn right I did!" She said "Now chill the fuck out."

He leaned his head back against the floor and exhaled slowly. The electric shock had felt like being battered all over with a metal club - temporarily incapacitating to be sure - but the effects were wearing off surprisingly fast.

" _That was not,"_ He said, blinking _"A very pleasant thing to do."_

" _I thought you said this little bug zapper could not seriously hurt you?"_ She said mockingly.

He measured the expression in her dark eyes, if he moved would she really shock him again? Now that he was calm he didn't think so.

He also realised that, given the imbalance in their respective size and strength, she couldn't possibly think her bodyweight was enough to keep him on the floor… could she?

She raised an eyebrow, as if she could see what he was thinking "Are you going to play nice?" She said.

Suddenly he threw her off, not needing to expend very much effort to flip her onto her back so their positions were reversed. _He_ was now pinning _her_ to the deck. The bug stick clattered out of her hand and rolled away under the console.

" _As I said,"_ He purred _"That was not a very pleasant thing to do to me. I think you should beg for my forgiveness!"_

" _You deserved it."_ She said serenely.

He held up one fist, pressed the palm catch and the knives shot out, flashing and sharp. Even though he wasn't holding onto her wrists she didn't struggle, just held his gaze steadily. She didn't even glance at the blades.

Almost casually he hooked them under the front of her vest and pulled. There was the noise of splitting fabric.

 _"You idiot! I only have two of those."_

" _And now you only have one."_ His lower mandibles curled up _"Every time you say something disrespectful to me, I am going to cut something off you. Are you sure you do not want to plead for me to have mercy on you?"_

A slow smile was now playing across her lips and the pupils of her eyes were enormous, like dark windows into space "Go and fuck yourself." She said.

His jaws spread in evil glee _"I hoped you would say that!"_

* * *

"Still think I am trying to stop myself from getting pregnant?"

Scar didn't look round but he almost flinched when she asked him the question. He really didn't want to examine his own thought processes too closely in retrospect _"Forget what I said,"_ He answered finally _"I was not thinking clearly."_

"But now you **are** thinking clearly, are we friends again?"

" _You really need to ask?!"_

"You aren't giving me a direct answer, maybe I should zap you a second time."

 _That_ made him look round. He was still mildly astonished that she had used the bug shocker on him although he suspected he had deserved it. Astonished and – he had to admit it – impressed _"Amazing,"_ He thought _"No weakness, no hesitation, she just put me down. She is magnificent!"_

"So now you _don't_ think it's my fault that we don't have more children?" She persisted, pushing him in the back with one naked foot.

He turned and seized her, crushing her up against him _"You became pregnant the first time I had you - the very first time!"_ He said _"It happened so easily I thought it was a vindication; that it meant I was justified and everyone else was wrong."_

" _And now…?"_

" _I still regret nothing!"_ He lifted one hand to her face, tracing her jawline with his talons _"But… I do not understand why it has not happened again. I cannot comprehend how my instincts can be so… misdirected… it cannot be a mistake because…"_ He broke off frowning, not able to say what he was thinking: _"…because I still want you so badly."_

She looked up at him for a moment and then she said, in the manner of someone inching their way out over a deep chasm "If it is so important to you then why don't you just leave? Find a female of your own species and have more _offspring_ with her. There is no sense in both of us being miserable."

Scar blinked in surprise. He didn't bother asking if that was what she wanted in the hope of hearing something that would justify his own preference. He suspected she would not have risked her life to save him back on Hirai if she was happy to give him up but whether that was because Selim needed him or because she needed him herself, he never could quite work out. He would have given quite a lot to know.

Now he considered her suggestion from a viewpoint of total self-interest: _was_ that what he wanted?

For the first time in years, he tried to picture the females of his own species; bigger than the males, living their segregated lives _"I probably could find one who was willing to receive the advances of an outlaw – indeed I am sure I could! More than one most likely, though I would have to best them in combat first."_

He had no doubt that his size, strength, reputation and impressive kill list would most likely outweigh his outcast status in the eyes of many yautja females. From what he knew they were not especially interested in social standing except as a marker of ferocity and cunning – but he simply could not bring himself to contemplate the prospect with any enthusiasm.

There was no moral barrier stopping him from accepting her offer, quite the opposite in fact. His species had no concept of monogamy except as a contemptible failure to breed as often as possible. He just didn't want to.

" _Why would I want some disinterested giantess who would simply tolerate me for a few minutes?"_ He thought _"Whose only response would be to make my head ring with her huge fists as a parting shot? I cannot imagine it would be very enjoyable experience! Even for the sake of procreation…"_ He tried to envision actually wanting to do it but the desire eluded him.

Yautja females didn't hold the same fascination for him as she did. It was the lure of the forbidden, the exotic and alien, that kept drawing him back to her. He knew that his own personal gratification should be a minor consideration beside the cardinal importance of breeding. He also knew himself well enough to realise that he needed the former in order to achieve the latter.

And he certainly wasn't interested in other human females! All the days he'd spent in close confines with that female medic after their escape from Hirai he had been unmoved, although he'd watched her closely, trying to work out why this might be _"I may be an abominable deviant so far as the rest of my species are concerned, but I have some standards."_ He thought.

Scar was bright enough to realise that if one human had traits he admired then some others probably would possess them too. As a result of his long association with Lex he had developed a better opinion of humans as a species but it was a very long way between his not thinking of them as dumb livestock and his wanting to go to bed with them.

His partiality for her over all others was bordering on obsession, he realised that, but there was very little he could do about it now.

" _It is no use deceiving myself."_ He shrugged mentally. _"Uncomfortable as it is to admit, I have no choice in the matter. She is the only female I want, the only one I have ever been interested in. If it means I only produce Selim and no other offspring then… so be it. I just hope she never realises how absolute her hold over me has become or I will be utterly in her power!"_

He gripped her chin in his talons, looking her in the eyes.

" _And what would_ _ **I**_ _do with a female of my own species, hrrrrmmmm?"_ He said, with a totally straight face _"Not one of them would be willing to perform any of the filthy human practises you have given me a taste for. In fact, I think some of them would be physically impossible!"_

She laughed at that, perhaps she could guess what he was really thinking "You know just how to make a girl feel special." She said in English.

They grinned at each other for a moment. Then he asked _"So… what would you have done if I had accepted your offer?"_

"I'm not sure," She spoke right next to his ear, making him shiver "Perhaps I'd have killed you in a jealous rage."

* * *

When Lex woke up again, it was still dark. She pushed herself up on one elbow and squinted into the blackness. Some noise had disturbed her. She listened for a moment but couldn't hear anything.

She looked down at Scar, unusually the sound hadn't woken him and he was still dead to the world. She wondered if was something to do with being electrocuted or if he was simply drained by the argument… or its aftermath.

"Was I wrong to use the bug zapper against him?" She thought "Using violence against your lover can't ever be right – or I always used to think. I guess I just did it without even thinking about it. And Scar seemed like he was going to do the same to me so maybe it was self-defence but still...I don't feel all that proud of myself right now."

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation he hadn't seemed to hold it against her. If anything, he always appeared to enjoy pain, it excited him. "Crazy masochist!" She thought and yawned.

At least he now seemed to have come to his senses. Their relationship was still volatile and the fact that it had been just the three of them for nearly five years had not done anything to change that. The only time they came into contact with any other living thing it was generally to kill them. She knew he preferred it this way, he was still jealous.

Sometimes she thought this jealousy even extended to Selim. She remembered the few occasions when their son had woken up in the night and wandered into her room because he was upset or unwell.

He had not done it very often. During the day Scar had almost endless patience with him but at night his tolerance evaporated like water off a hotplate. If he happened to be present and not out stalking something, Selim would be rapidly ejected unless he was genuinely sick.

" _I am now reconciled to your being entirely monopolised by him throughout the daylight hours._ " Scar had said to her once.

"That's very generous of you." She had interrupted.

" _Yes it is,"_ He said, unfazed _"But at night I do not expect to have to compete."_

"Maybe it would be better if I could get pregnant again." She thought "At the very least it would mean Selim had some company and it would make Scar happy – my God he'd be so happy!"

She remembered how enthralled he'd been by her first pregnancy and gave a little half smile in the darkness, part amused and part sad. It wasn't like she had any control over the matter. As she'd told him; it was just blind luck, the biological equivalent of Russian Roulette. He didn't like that. She knew he found it hard to accept that there was any aspect of life in which he was powerless.

There was that noise again, a gasp. Alarmed she sat bolt upright, it sounded like Selim! She rose and padded quickly down the corridor. His door slid open noiselessly when she pushed the control and she peered in. The darkness was so thick and black she could only just make out the shape of him lying there. Then she heard him gasp again.

"Selim?"

Pressing the control to bring up the lights she saw that he was retching helplessly. She rushed over and pulled him onto his side. His skin was clammy with sweat but cold, he didn't seem to have any kind of fever. He was coughing and sobbing in between heaves, obviously in great distress.

"What's the matter baby?" She said, smoothing his forehead with one hand while holding him up with the other. He was calling her, crying hysterically, he didn't even seem to know she was there. She just held onto him, not knowing what else to do but wait for the spasm to end.

She had never seen him in such terrible distress before and with no idea what was causing it. Now he was gasping for breath in between dry heaves. His small body suddenly stiffened and started to jerk and shake uncontrollably, his eyes stared at her unseeing and she realised he was fitting. She held onto him, trying to make sure he didn't hurt himself and spoke softly to him, told him it would be alright – not even knowing if he could hear her.

As she sat there holding him, Scar appeared in the doorway. He took everything in; Selim convulsing, her ashen face. Whatever horror or fear he felt, he didn't show it _"What is wrong?"_ He said flatly.

"I don't know!" She was trying to be calm but she looked almost as ill as Selim "I just came in and he was like this, I don't know what's wrong!"

" _He seemed healthy earlier."_ He said in the same emotionless tone.

She said nothing, watched the child's stricken face as his paroxysms grew slowly weaker. When he was finally still and his breathing had returned to normal he seemed to be asleep, the fit had exhausted him. She checked in his mouth with her fingers to make sure there was no vomit for him to choke on. He didn't wake up.

" _Lex?"_

She looked up, lost and miserable.

He held out his arms _"Give him to me. We should put him in the pod. Scan him."_

Suddenly she was terribly relieved that he didn't show any outward signs of distress. If he had, she thought she might have lost control herself. He took Selim out of her arms and carried him down the corridor, the boy's head lolling limply against his shoulder.

He laid their unconscious son in the large coffin shaped capsule where she had spent three months comatose. She stood there watching, fingers knotting and un-knotting anxiously as he tapped the controls that activated the scan.

As the indigo illumination from the scanner threw the room into an eerie twilight she watched the screen over the pod with her fingers pressed over her mouth. The schematic swept across showing heat signature, then muscle and tissue and finally bone.

" _It has not found anything."_ He said, anticipating her question.

Frowning, he pressed a few more controls and the scanner began another sweep, malevolently slowly it seemed to her.

This time she recognised the green feathery graphic that showed EMI {electro magnetic impulse} frequency. A much more detailed picture of their son's shape began to take form on the screen. As the scan reached his head, a small mass of silver light appeared inside his skull, not even an inch long.

"What the hell is that?" She hissed.

Scar didn't speak, he touched the controls again and text began to appear, scrolling along the bottom of the screen. She recognised some words but in her distressed state she couldn't make head or tail of their meaning.

"Well?" She said impatiently "I can't read it, what does it say?"

"It is not… clear, some sort of lump." He said "Inside …his head. In his brain."

"What is it?" She asked tightly.

"I cannot tell. The pod will need longer… to perform more tests. Maybe thirty units…"

Almost a whole day until they could know any more. She stared at him, feeling like she was drowning in a sea of unknown horrors.

* * *

Twenty units, or roughly thirteen hours later, Selim still lay in enforced unconsciousness. The pod needed him to be still whilst it took samples from him, performed better, more detailed scans and then analysed data. Lex sat beside him calmly enough, but her eyes were surrounded by dark shadows. She was cocooned in a shell of misery, unable to think about or do anything else.

Scar was like a statue, he didn't speak or move at all, just stood by the medi-pod watching Selim hour after hour. Sometimes his gaze flitted over to her.

Finally he said _"I am going out."_

She looked up sharply "What?! How can you even think about hunting when - "

 _"Because you need to eat,"_ He cut off her angry question _"As do I."_

Her eyes glittered _"How can you even think of eating when –"_

 _"It does nothing for Selim if we stay here not eating or drinking or sleeping._ _All that will be achieved is our exhaustion. What can we do for him then?"_

She wanted to yell at him "How can you be so fucking calm, you cold blooded bastard? How can you even think of anything else when Selim is lying there and we don't even know what's wrong with him?!" She wanted to scream and howl and hit him but she did none of these things because she knew he was right. Even if his actions seemed unfeeling, logically they made perfect sense. There was nothing to be gained by hysterical shows of emotion.

"Alright, go kill something." She said wearily "Find some of those birds Selim likes, for when he wakes up."

He nodded, slotted his mask onto his face _"Contact me if… if you need me."_ Then dipping his head he was gone, only too glad to escape she was sure. There was not much point in him staying, she told herself. Selim would be unconscious until the pod finished its further tests, until then he could do nothing except agonise uselessly as she was doing. She'd looked after him through various childhood illnesses. Generally he only caught them when it was necessary for one of them to come into contact with other humans or hunters and passed it on to to him.

One particularly virulent bout aged three had started with him covered in blisters and ended up with blood leaking out of the corners of his eyes. She had been taken aback, but Scar had been unsurprised _"Sticky Tears,"_ He'd said dismissively _"I had it in infancy. Nothing serious."_ Sure enough, Selim had come through it unscathed.

This was different, she knew it, she felt it.

"He's my son, I should have noticed there was something wrong with him." She berated herself "I just thought he was tired because Scar was pushing him too hard but I should have realised he wasn't his usual self! He's always been such a cheerful, easy kid, I should have known. I _should_ have known!"

She folded her arms and rested them on her knees, watching the light sweeping back and forth across her son's still, small body.


	4. Chapter 4

In the end it took longer than thirty hours for all the tests to be completed. Lex was almost swaying on her feet, sitting so long by the side of the medipod had exhausted her but she stubbornly refused to leave Selim. Scar had come back with food and though she had forced it down, it was obvious she scarcely knew what she was eating.

" _It is futile both of us standing here."_ He said frowning at her _"You know I will stay awake."_

" _I cannot sleep until I know what the scan says."_ Her voice was hoarse with fatigue _"Then I will… try to sleep, I give you my word."_

" _As you wish."_ He pressed the buttons on the control pad, waking up the screen that would display the results. Reams of data scrolled down. Even to him it was all but incomprehensible.

"I don't understand it." She said miserably.

"A few moments more… it will… summarise." He said in human language, trying to be patient. He was being as tolerant as he knew how, not just with the infuriatingly slow workings of the medipod, but with her sudden show of emotion.

In his head, he could hear R'Zuul's voice, just as he could on those rare occasions when Selim gave way to tears _"Stop your whimpering you pathetic invertebrate! How do you think it will serve you except to advertise your weakness?"_ He bit down savagely on the words, determined not to say them. He knew that if he wanted to avoid a catastrophic rupture with her at this moment he must not show how repulsed he was by what he was conditioned to see as weakness.

Such a reaction she would consider monstrous he knew, but it was the one he knew best. Tears were something he'd left behind in infancy. Even though he understood by now that she was not weak, he still couldn't do as she did. The only way he could deal with the tsunami of fear was simply to shut it off.

He watched the screen resentfully, waiting for some answer he could give her. When finally the summary appeared, he skimmed it and breathed deeply.

She was immediately wide eyed with alarm "What is it?" She could tell from his expression that it was not good.

" _It says he has some sort of growth in his brain."_ He said slowly, trying to read more carefully _"A bundle of abnormal cells. That is what is what is caused the seizure and the vomiting."_

" _Like… a…_ a brain tumour?"

" _If that is the human word for it."_ He said unhappily, wishing he knew more about it _"It says it is pressing on the brain. That is what is causing the problem. And it is increasing in size – quite slowly – but if it is left untreated it will soon start to have a more serious effect on his brain function. His brain could be permanently damaged. It needs to be removed and quickly."_

" _How soon?"_

" _It is hard to say for certain, three maybe four weeks at most. The pod is not able to be exact about it."_

" _Can the pod do the operation to remove it?"_ She asked hopefully.

" _No."_ He shook his head _"The pod is not capable of performing complex surgery. It is simply a means of diagnosing the problem and keeping the casualty alive until they can reach medical assistance. We were lucky your skull injury was only a simple linear fracture and healed on its own... eventually. Taking a blood sample, keeping the body hydrated, keeping the lungs oxygenated and so on; these are the limits of what the pod is able to do."_

" _But there must be something we can do, someone who can…"_ She tailed off. He could see the wheels of her mind turning.

" _We could take him to the Void Cutter."_ She said _"Would the Rough Skull medics not help him? After all he is one of them -"_

" _You forget; they do not even count me as one of them now! We cannot know how much Khurshad was able to communicate back to Nar'Jat about what happened on Hirai but I doubt he would have passed up any opportunity to traduce me. I would be surprised if we got as far as the ship before they shot us down. We must assume that you and I are both under sentence of death and even if we are not now, we soon would be once the Council learns of Selim's existence."_

" _But Selim is just a child!"_ She spread her hands in exasperation _"They cannot punish him for what we have done!"_

" _They could and they would, all they lack is opportunity. Most would share Khurshad's view that such a creature ought not to be allowed to live. They only need to see him to want him dead!"_ His expression was grim, he knew he needed to convince her _"And they would most likely not help him even if he were not a half-breed abomination and the spawn of a criminal. He is too young to merit medical help."_

She shook her head, bewildered _"Too young?"_

" _Most of my clan – of my species – would consider any juvenile who cannot make it through adolescence without significant medical intervention not worth the trouble of saving. An injury sustained in a fight or on the hunt or perhaps an infectious disease – these they might treat – but an illness that suddenly manifests with no apparent cause? I can tell you absolutely they would not help him."_

She stared at him, a mixture of horror and disgust on her face _"You are not serious?"_

" _Yautja do not tolerate weakness. They would see this … illness as proof that Selim ought never to have been born. That he is genetically inferior."_

"And…what do **you** think?"She asked tightly.

" _Lexssss, you know I would wade through an ocean of blood for him."_

" _Even if it turns out he is not perfect?"_

" _Even so."_ He wasn't about to pick a fight with her about the insinuation. She was right on the edge, he could hear it and see it. Now was not the time. He pushed the anger down hard _"But you must believe me when I say there is no going back to the Rough Skulls."_

" _If your species is not an option that only leaves mine."_ She said heavily _"We have to go back to Earth and if the scan is correct I can only think of one person who can help him… but you are not going to like it."_

" _Tell me."_

"Iversson." She was obviously reluctant to say the name given that the last time it had been mentioned between them it was almost as an expletive "We have to find her."

"Not the other… human medic?" Of the other humans he had met he had liked Hobbes the best – or at least he did not actively dislike her. She had helped him to keep Selim alive; in the first few weeks whilst Lex had been unconscious and he had been totally at a loss as to how to look after an infant so young, she had been invaluable. For that he was grateful.

"Hobbes is an army field medic, not a brain surgeon," She said slowly "And she wouldn't have access to the same resources Iversson did or the same knowledge of your species. Plus Iversson told me herself that she could help Selim. She said she could give him the best medical care money could buy…"

"And you believed her? Would you… trust her?"

"What other choice is there?" She looked at him bleakly "Do you agree; we must find her?"

He just nodded _"Whatever is necessary."_ He growled.

* * *

Twelve hours later, they decided to start the process that would wake Selim. As he had predicted, Scar had managed to fix the right hand turbine without much trouble. Now the Chameleon was on its way back to the human planet, the autopilot running smoothly. They took turns staying by the pod as he slowly regained consciousness.

It was Scar who happened to be on watch when his son shifted and mumbled something in his sleep. He waited, not wanting to wake up Lex just yet. It was one of the rare occasions he had managed to persuade her to leave the boy's side to sleep herself. _"Strange."_ He thought _"Not so long ago I was waiting in exactly this spot whilst his mother was unconscious inside the medipod and he was asleep in the next room…."_

He sat absolutely still, waiting patiently. Almost a unit later Selim gave a little sigh and lifted his head, blinking groggily.

"Mommy?" He said, in a raspy little voice.

" _No Selim, it is me."_ He said quietly _"You mother was here, but now she sleeps."_

"Daddy..." Selim shook his head, bleary.

For once, he let the human pet name pass uncorrected "Yes."

The boy rubbed his eyes "I feel strange."

"You have been …asleep for a long time," He said, wishing he had the same fluent grip on the human language that the boy and his mother did. Speaking in English always made him feel rather slow and awkward but he was taking his cue from his child "Almost two days. It will take…time before you … are fully awake."

"Why was I asleep for so long?" Selim looked at him apprehensively, as if worried that he might be in trouble _"Does he really think I would be angry with him for that?"_ He thought uneasily _"Maybe she is right; maybe I have been too harsh on him."_

"We thought … you needed to rest." He said, not wanting to tell him the whole truth "How do you … feel now?"

Selim screwed up his face as he considered "Really hungry!" He said finally "I am really, _really_ hungry."

"Hungry enough to eat plants?"

"Nooo!"Selim made a face and Scar grinned at him. It was a running joke between them. They were united in their dislike of anything that wasn't meat. Scar generally refused to knowingly eat anything vegetable in origin, stating that this was the preserve of creatures lower down the food chain than himself. Selim would only do so if his father wasn't present to sanction his resistance. His mother often found herself overruled by two determined carnivores.

He removed the various tubes and sensors attached to his son's body and lifted him out of the pod.

" _You do not really want me to eat plants do you, Mei'Savir?"_ Scar noted that Selim could remember to use yautja language when he wanted something _"The little manipulator!"_ He thought, amused.

" _I am not sure,"_ He said, feigning serious consideration _"Maybe we should go and ask your mother what she thinks…"_

" _But she will say I do have to eat some!"_

Scar looked sidelong at the boy, who was gazing at him in mournful appeal _"You are right Mei'Sika, she_ _ **was**_ _very tired. We should let her sleep until after you eat."_

Selim smiled delightedly, showing sharp white fangs.

* * *

The journey back to Earth seemed horribly slow to Lex but actually she knew that they were making good time. It took them less than a week, four and a half days going at the shuttle's top speed.

Selim seemed fine but tired after he woke up. She tried to behave as normally as possible. She didn't want him to be worried or upset by seeing her distress. Scar was better at it than her; whatever he felt about their son's illness he seemed to be able to just switch it off. She thought she'd learned that particular yautja trick but it seemed she hadn't learned it well enough.

That was hardly surprising. She doubted anything short of being systematically brutalised throughout childhood and into adolescence would do the job. She knew - he'd told her - the ways they were taught to be able to screw down pain and fear like that. Not to elicit pity, he didn't see any of it as being that terrible, but because she'd asked him once. She had tried her best not to show it but she had been _appalled_. He'd been able to tell, of course. _"Do not waste your time quivering with sympathy for me, soft meat!"_ He said scornfully, seeing her expression _"Your pity disgusts me and I have no use for it. The way I was trained up was nothing out of the ordinary. It made me what I am!"_

"Yes," She had thought "A psychotic child-soldier who grew into a psychotic adult!"

At least he didn't treat Selim that way. Not that he never hit their son; he did sometimes. The two of them had nearly come to blows themselves over it. Still, she knew it wasn't on a par with the sort of thing he'd been subjected to. He certainly didn't habitually beat him or neglect him.

Anyway, however you learned to do it, being able to switch off your feelings would have been a useful skill to have at the moment she reflected. It was so hard trying not to reveal to their son the depths of her fear. All she could think of was that knot of diseased cells inside Selim's skull. Those cells were in there right now, slowly replicating, making copies of themselves. Soon they would start to damage the healthy tissue - damaging her precious little boy, taking away everything he was, obliterating him... and she could do nothing to help.

When Selim was sleeping – which he did a lot right now – she occupied her mind by going over the problems they would face when they finally did reach Earth. How would they find Iversson? Nearly five years had passed, she might be anywhere.

She reasoned she would need to go into a populated area, to visit an internet café or to talk to people. She would need money, ordinary clothes, maybe something to cover or at least disguise her face in public places. She was a wanted felon now.

* * *

At least one of these problems was easily solved. About two years previously they had been in another forest; another planet on the remote edge of Rough Skull space.

Selim had come trotting up to her. He was now out of the chubby toddler stage and starting to grow at a surprising rate. Already he was as tall as a human twice his age. He handed her a lump of mud.

"Look Mommy!" He squealed "Look at what I found!"

"Oh thank you sweetheart!" She said enthusiastically, used by now to graciously receiving gifts of rocks, sticks and leaves from her three year old son.

Scar was behind him, smirking slightly _"He insisted upon bringing you this... rock."_ He said.

When she turned the lump over she noticed a little unexpected glint. She scratched away some more of the mud with a fingernail and it crumbled away to reveal a glittering hard surface.

It was gold! She knew because she'd seen it before in Alaska. She'd been there as part of the foundations work researching and combating the rapacious effects of the gold mining industry.

"Selim, where did you get this?" She asked her son who was still standing, eagerly awaiting her verdict on his gift. In answer he gripped her fingers and pulled her to her feet. She looked at Scar. He shrugged at her and followed as Selim led her through the trees to the bottom of a small ravine and a river. Pinpoints of gold gleamed everywhere, drifts of glittering stars. She was astonished.

"Selim, how did you find this?"

" _We were hunting,"_ Scar answered for him _"Trying to anyway, apparently he is more interested in rocks. And he still calls you by this ... pet name."_

Selim pouted a little, still watching her seriously "Do _you_ like the shiny stones Momm - I mean, Mother?" He asked.

"If you found this on Earth you'd be very lucky," She told him "These rocks are actually a type of metal called gold. Lots of humans think it is precious. Many people spend their whole lives just trying to find a little bit of what you have found here. Wars have been fought over it!"

He beamed at her "So they are special?"

"Very special," She nodded "You were very clever to find it!"

"I _told_ you she would like it Mei'Savir!" He said smugly to his father, who was watching him with an air of puzzled tolerance.

" _Yes you are very clever Mei'Sika,"_ He said easily _"Why do you not go and get us some more of them."_

As the boy trotted off, grabbing up fistfuls of glittering metal, he leaned over and said to her in an undertone _"Are you making this up?"_

" _No!"_ She laughed _"What I told him is perfectly true."_

He took the yellowish lump from her outstretched fingers _"Is it very useful then, this metal?"_ He rolled it between his talons speculatively _"It seems rather too soft to be of much use."_

" _It can be used for making many things,"_ She said smiling as she watched Selim plunging his hands gleefully into the mud on the river bank _"But mainly we like it because it is rare and shiny and looks good. We mainly use it for… '_ ornamentation'."

" _For what?"_

" _To wear, to make ourselves look … more attractive."_

" _Humans."_ He'd looked at her sideways, clearly amused _"You eat plants and fight wars over the shiny rocks that you wear. And you think_ _ **we**_ _are primitive!"_

She still had the bag of gold nuggets that Selim had found for her. She would be sad to part with them.

* * *

The sweep over Nevada proved futile, as Scar had suspected it would. The facility he had helped Lex to escape from was still there, but it was deserted. _"It looks to me like nothing has changed since we left,"_ He said to her as they stood looking at the display on the Chameleon's view-screen _"It is a burned out ruin."_

She nodded absently and he knew she was already considering their next avenue to try to find the scientist she seemed to think could solve their problems _"And give us a whole battalion of new ones!"_ He thought _"I doubt this Iverssssson is going to freely offer us her help, even if it is within her power to do so."_

He had to admit he could think of no better plan. Selim needed someone with medical skills he did not possess and he had burned all his bridges.

" _We will find her and, whether she is willing to help him or not, I will make her do it."_ He brooded, watching the shallow rise and fall of his sleeping son's chest _"I will torture her if needs be to make her save him. In any case, I owe her a debt of pain for keeping Lex a prisoner and making her believe all those lies…"_

Part of him almost hoped that it _would_ come to that. This Iversson had certainly been the cause of enough conflict between himself and the mother of his child. The fear he'd seen in her eyes these past few years whenever she'd thought she might be pregnant… and the awful, murderous rage it had ignited inside him to see it; he would have liked to kill the scientist just for that.

" _Just let this Iversson say she will not help Selim."_ He thought darkly _"There is a way to make anyone do what you want. I will find a way to force her to do my bidding. I will invent one!"_


	5. Chapter 5

Lex was debating with herself whether she should risk going into the nearest city. From there she could find an internet café and start searching for Iversson online but it was risky; did she dare to step out onto American soil? "I can't just waltz into Reno and go and sit in a café as I am, I imagine I'm on America's most wanted list!" She thought "My picture's probably been circulated; every police station around here will have it."

In the end she decided it was worth the risk if she used the cloaking device. She left Scar at the shuttle, but not without resistance from him _"I should follow you."_ He said _"I can remain unseen, but I do not like the idea of you going on your own."_

" _One of us has to stay here with Selim."_ She said firmly _"And it has to be me who goes, I might have to talk to someone. I will have to de-cloak to use the computer or someone will notice. You have to stay and make sure Selim is alright."_

He wasn't happy about it but he had to concede she was right. She didn't tell him that she also wanted to keep him away from densely populated areas because she feared it would only be a matter of time before temptation got the better of him. Aside from the morality of it, an urban bloodbath would be much too high profile. "You don't take the wolf with you if you want to pass through a flock of sheep unnoticed."She thought with a wry smile as she walked towards the city, unseen in the sweltering afternoon heat, feet crunching in the bleached white dust.

It meant some petty theft but she managed to get hold of the things she needed to go unnoticed on the street, salving her conscious with the thought that if she had time she'd go back and leave some money for the store-holder. She stepped invisible into the restroom of a gas station and stepped out again in human clothes for the first time in six years, stowing the cloaking device in a sturdy backpack along with her bodysuit.

She'd chosen the most inconspicuous outfit she could find; cargo pants with useful pockets, a vest top, cotton jacket; all dark or neutral colours. None of them featured a logo or any distinctive design and all were loose enough not to restrict her movements. She kept her own boots on but they were mostly hidden under the pants.

The main problem was the clan blood mark on her cheek, it was so distinctive _and_ it was in a place that was hard to cover up without looking peculiar. Somehow she didn't think walking round town in a mask or with a bandana over her face would be a good idea.

In the end she swiped a concealer stick the rough approximation of her skin tone over it. Her own hair she hid under a jaw length wig of chestnut waves with a long fringe that swept down over one eye. She arranged the crisp fake hair so that a portion of it hid the acid mark. Then she pulled on a dark coloured baseball cap along with huge dark glasses to hide her eyes. She checked the restroom mirror to make sure that the wig was straight. "Not very flattering." She thought "But it'll have to do." It was a way off evening yet and the sun was still shining, so she could get away with shades.

The city was overwhelming; she'd forgotten what it was like to be amongst so many people. The noise of the traffic; the glaring neon lights; the appalling stink of exhaust fumes, food, body odour, garbage; the constant contact with other sweaty bodies; it was a sensory overload.

It might have been dwarfed by Vegas as the gambling capital but Reno was still a party town and the cacophony of voices was bewildering, her ears were being assaulted by bursts of music and half overheard conversations.

"So I said to 'em you can't just expect me to - "

"Hey baby why don't you come over here and - "

" – that's fifty per cent more bang for your - "

" – repent all ye sinners! For none of you know - "

Nonsense, gibberish, like a foreign language!

A pack of guffawing young men pushed past her, elbowing her off the sidewalk as they made their whisky and beer fuelled pilgrimage from one casino to the next. She had to stop herself from spinning round and punching the nearest one as hard as she could, suddenly very aware of the knives in her boot tops, the gun in her pocket. You didn't allow yourself to get pushed aside in yautja society; that was a sign of weakness and appearing weak could get you killed. She retreated into an alcove in the wall, out of the stream of people and drew a deep breath, trying to focus.

Selling the gold was easy enough. She just walked into the Gold Exchange right there on Virginia Street. She didn't sell all the gold at once of course, that might look strange, and so she'd only brought a few pieces with her. She tapped her foot impatiently to the country and western station playing softly on the store's stereo system whilst the little wizened white-bearded man behind the counter turned the nuggets over for what seemed the hundredth time. She was vague when he asked where she'd got them but made sure he knew he'd better give her a good price.

The sky was turning cerise pink as she walked out of the Exchange with a fat roll of notes in her pocket. It took a little more searching to find a suitable internet café. She wanted somewhere off the beaten track, dark and inconspicuous but not so small that other bored patrons might start looking closely at her face when she took her shades off. Eventually she found a bustling café down one of the backstreets. It seemed to be mainly full of tourists and the occasional student. Buying herself a coffee, she sat down at the terminal with the best view of the door. The coffee was nothing special but it had been so long since she'd tasted it that she paused, taking a moment to really appreciate the taste. Coffee was one of the few things about civilisation that she truly missed.

Opening up the search engine, she typed 'Professor Jeanette Iversson' into Google. There were quite a few Jeanette Iverssons but only one Professor she could find, however the information on offer was not very useful. There was some sort of profile of her in an online science journal – to do with something called astrobiology, whatever _that_ was – but it was almost twenty years old. There was also a stub of a staff profile on an old governmental website but again it was years out of date. She systematically went through every result that looked promising but didn't manage to glean even a scrap of useful, recent information.

"It's like she just disappeared," She thought in frustration "But I guess the job she's in, they didn't exactly want to go around advertising their presence to the general public."

She looked through some of the Jeanette Iverssons listed on social media but none of the pictures looked right "Probably the wrong generation and too busy for that type of thing," She thought "Can't imagine her killing time in the lab, checking her updates."

She blew out her cheeks and then, surreptitiously making sure that nobody was looking at her screen, she typed her own name into the search bar. The very first result that came up was the FBI's 'Most Wanted' page. She noticed she was in the section classified 'Most Wanted Terrorists'.

She clicked on the link and saw a mug shot photo taken at the secure facility in Nevada; her own blank gaze stared back at her, dark circles under her eyes, some light bruising still visible around one of them from the beating D'Kand and his friends had given her in the gymnasium. The symbol that Scar had traced on her cheek with the acid showed up clearly. Next to it were listed the charges _"Act of Terrorism - Domestic Terrorism; Hostage Taking; Arson; Attack on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death; Murder - "_

She hastily scrolled down to the summary below and read:

" _\- wanted for her alleged involvement with a break-in at a secure government facility… believed to be politically motivated…"_ She raised an eyebrow "Hmmm, so that's how they've spun it; a break in?" She thought "And here I thought I was trying to break out!"

"… _kidnapped and held a member of research staff hostage…killed eleven armed forces personnel … skilled in the use of knives and handguns… considered armed and extremely dangerous… do not approach… may be travelling with a young child… gained a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania…. speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese amongst other languages… has links to New York, Brazil, Alaska, Peru, Nepal… professional climber…"_

The distinctive marks section mentioned the acid burn on her face and there were several other photographs there that must have been taken from the Karl Woods Foundation, the organisation she had set up in her father's name. Some of this information must have come from them as well, she had certainly never talked with Coulter or Iversson about her education or the other languages she spoke and they had never asked her about them, apart from the hunters' language.

She looked around again to check nobody was in sight of her monitor but the café's other occupants seemed deeply involved in whatever they were seeing on their own screens.

She clicked back to the summary and saw with a shocked hiss of breath what she hadn't noticed before _"… offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction…"_

A twenty-five million dollar bounty?! She blinked in disbelief. They must _really_ want her then. She could just go and hand herself in… maybe then they'd take her to Iversson. Maybe then they would give Selim the treatment he needed…. or maybe they wouldn't.

She had no way of knowing if Iversson still worked for the unit or if it even existed, any more than she could know what the government's agenda was in offering such a high price on her head. Were they anxious to recapture the scientific find of the century? Or did they just want the woman who'd destroyed their expensive facility under lock and key? Maybe they would just execute her as a multiple murderer. They didn't have the death penalty in this state but what was to stop them moving her elsewhere? One thing was certain; once she'd handed herself in she would lose all control over her destiny and that of Selim. It was too big a gamble.

As she thought her eye flickered over the summary again;

"… _has links to environmental extremist groups…"_

She suddenly sat up as a thought struck her. It seemed plain that she wasn't going to find Iversson via the internet but perhaps someone else could, a name dredged up from the depths of her old life – Jonas Haagens.

She had first met Jonas when they had both been taking environmental studies together at Pennsylvania. At first they had been rather unlikely friends. Lex had always been a very physical person whilst Jonas was much more at home behind a computer keyboard. She was generally confident and outgoing, whilst he was nervous and introverted.

Despite these differences a chance conversation led them to discover they had plenty of other things in common. Jonas and his brother had been brought up by their mother. She hadn't had much money and had tried various different jobs and places to try and make a life for herself and her two children. As a result he'd had a pretty nomadic existence. There weren't many parts of the states he hadn't lived in at one time or another.

Lex had spent a similarly rootless childhood. Her father was a mountaineer and conservationist, and her mother had basically taken it upon herself to do her father's PR. Home was whatever part of the world his work happened to take them to. As a little girl she'd gotten used to having to fit in wherever she landed up; Peru, Patagonia, Tibet, Nepal. Wherever you were, the trick was to learn to assimilate quickly; befriend the other children in the camp or village; learn enough of the local language to get by. The other students with their nice suburban upbringings couldn't understand.

They also shared a love of the beautiful wildernesses in the world; youthful rage at the injustice of it all, that these same wildernesses were being destroyed and a determination to do something about it whether that was going on demonstrations, leafleting other students or fund raising for conservation charities. "What a couple of sanctimonious pains in the ass!" She thought with a rueful smile

That was where their paths had diverged. Lex had (until Antarctica) always stuck to the more official channels. Her father's foundation and the work they did was all strictly legitimate and above board. Jonas had always preferred more direct action and she was one of the few people who knew that as his hacker alter ego, _'Infiltrator',_ he had perpetrated some pretty audacious take downs of individuals or companies whose environmental excesses he considered to be unacceptable. He'd told her one night, unburdening himself whilst drunk.

There was a corporation whose very incriminating emails about a chemical spillage that caused birth defects in a nearby village suddenly ended up on a news website. There was a senator whose backhanders from oil companies to allow them to drill in areas of outstanding natural beauty somehow ended up on the front pages of the newspapers after his instant messenger suddenly became public. That type of thing. In the morning he'd begged her not to give away his secret but she had reassured him. Officially Lex had to disapprove of such vigilante tactics but secretly she'd always felt a sneaking satisfaction to hear of these people getting their comeuppance. She certainly wasn't going to rat out a friend for the sake of those morally bankrupt scumbags who were finally getting a taste of long-averted justice.

He was so relieved he'd had to vomit in her sink – or perhaps that had been the hangover. Either way, despite their ideological differences they had always remained friends.

After that she'd sometimes called him 'Phil' (or 'Fil'), a nickname that nobody else knew the real significance of. It had always tickled her that someone so outwardly unassuming and mild-mannered could be such a gung-ho persona in cyberspace, it was as if he was making up for his timidity in the real world; the proverbial revenge of the nerd.

The reason she had to trust him, however, had nothing to do with his activities as a hacker and everything to do with the time when she'd saved his life. He'd come on an ice-climbing expedition with her once. Fil, being as great a lover of the outdoors as she was but not so strong and athletic, had always sought to prove himself in her eyes and those of her climber friends. He'd kept asking and in the end she signed him up, against her better judgement.

It had been a freak accident whilst they were out glacier walking. She didn't know if he'd swung his ice-axe and misjudged it or if he'd slipped or if his hands had been too numb to hold it properly – but somehow the point had wound up buried in his foot. She didn't really remember the screaming or the blood. She just remembered clicking into an adrenalin fuelled trance where she radioed for help, put a tourniquet round his ankle, wadded cloth around it, kept him warm, kept him calm, gave him tea from her flask as he started to go into shock. She'd stroked his head, kept him talking and conscious until the mountain rescue helicopter came.

He'd been very lucky not to lose the foot, something he put down solely to her quick thinking and calm actions. He called her his Guardian Angel.

By the time she set out on her ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic, Jonas had all but retired his Infiltrator persona – ironically having taken a job as head of online security at one of the companies that now bestrode the web like a colossus. The poacher had turned gamekeeper.

Well it was the poacher that she needed now, she wanted someone who could gain access to secret government documents and find out for her where Iversson had gone. If anyone she knew could do that, she imagined he could.

She typed 'Jonas Haagens' into Google along with the name of his employers and – bingo! – there he was, his little photo sitting alongside a short biog that unsurprisingly mentioned nothing at all about his eco-terrorist, hacker credentials. She didn't worry much that he was amongst the 'environmental extremists' mentioned by the FBI either. Infiltrator had never been unmasked – the fact that he was still in his job was proof enough that hadn't changed – and Fil was good at covering his tracks. She also knew many of the perfectly legitimate environmental groups she'd had dealings with over the years bore the label of 'extremist' as far as the government was concerned.

She took a moment studying the little picture, it was black and white and though hard to tell if it was recent or not, it was definitely him. The goatee beard and spikey hair looked a little more neatly groomed than she remembered and he was wearing a suit in this photograph but she recognised him right away.

He had a Facebook account – of course he did – he'd have to be all over the competition. It took her a few minutes to set herself up with one which she called Angela Gabriel and sent him a message.

Hey Fil, She wrote Long time no see.

She hoped he was still the kind of person who checked their updates constantly as she didn't want to have to wait around. She sat for a few minutes tapping a nail against the sleek black mouse, sipping her now lukewarm coffee.

Her luck was in. Just five minutes later she was rewarded by a little ping from her machine. He'd sent back Who is this?

She replied immediately Your Guardian Angel. Miss me?

"Where the hell have you been?!

Behind her two of the tourists burst into noisy laughter making her glance round uneasily. A quick appraisal reassured her that they were not even looking her way but at something on their shared terminal.

She bent back to her conversation, eager to be out of there quickly now and wrote Can't explain now but do you have a number I can call you on?

There was a short pause before he sent back the number. She snatched up a pen off a nearby desk and scribbled it on a bit of paper, stuffing it hurriedly in her pocket. She sent him a brief sign off I'll call you soon

Then she closed down all the windows on the computer, deleted the browsing history and left the café, pulling her cap down over her eyes and after a moment's thought, slipping the shades back on. It was dark now so they might look odd, but probably no odder than many of the night-time denizens of this gambling city.

On the way out of town she stopped at the store she'd swiped the clothes from to buy a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile and fifty dollars' worth of credit. She left an extra fifty on the counter while the clerk wasn't looking.


	6. Chapter 6

Selim sat in the pilot's chair, dwarfed by its huge size. His arms could barely reached up to the armrests. They were going somewhere else on his mother's planet now, some kind of big place full of humans. He was very excited, he'd never seen a…a city. His mother and his father had both told him about them, though both of their accounts had sounded very different and very strange. In his head he saw a big jungle made out of stone, with humans peering round every corner and out of dark caves. There were hundreds of humans there his mother had said. He tried to imagine being around that many people, the thought made him feel a bit weird. He'd never even met anyone apart from his parents.

Now they were disagreeing about something again. Not fighting though, not yet anyway.

" _You really trust this …_ 'friend' _not to give you away?"_ Mei'Savir said, in disbelieving tones _"Even after what you have told me about the reward on your head? Do you think he does not know?"_

Selim looked at his mother, puzzled. He couldn't see anything on her head.

" _He is not exactly the biggest ally of the… the_ 'Federal Government'." She said.

" _Yes, you mentioned this."_ He could tell his father was still not convinced _"You think being a criminal who does not follow societal norms makes him_ _ **more**_ _trustworthy?"_

" _Look at who is speaking!"_

" _Yes. So I have intimate knowledge of such matters. I would not trust me either!"_

Selim didn't really understand that either, his father did not even trust his own self? It did not make any sense.

" _Not only that!"_ His mother countered _"I saved his life, he is indebted to me."_

That shut his father up for a moment _"So… it is a compulsion of yours; to save the lives of doomed males?"_ He made an odd face.

" _Only the most pathetic specimens."_ She replied and he laughed _"Anyway, I will be careful."_ She continued _"I have not even told him where I shall meet him yet."_

Selim spoke up finally "What is it you've got on your head _Mei'Varsi_?"

"It's just a figure of speech sweetheart," She said softly, stroking his forehead "I don't have anything on my head; it's just something people say."

"But what does it mean?" He persisted.

She patted his shoulder "Nothing you need to worry about."

He was just going to ask her about this other human when his father spoke again _"I am going to follow you this time,"_ He glanced over at Selim _"In case you meet with… unexpected problems."_

" _No. You have to stay with Selim."_

"But Mother, I want to come," Selim said. This was too good an opportunity to miss as far as he was concerned "I always wanted to see other humans like you told me about and see a big sit-tee. You said one day I could. I promise I will not get in the way!"

"Honey I would love to take you," She looked sad, "But not this time, it's too… I mean, I'll be too busy to look after you."

"But _Mei'Savir_ can look after me because he is coming as well."

"He can't come either."

"Why not?"

"Because the other humans would be scared if they saw him," She was giving him the look she usually used when she was talking about eating plants "And if they got frightened they might try and hurt you both."

"But why would they do that if they were scared of him?" Selim laughed "And even if they tried, they could not hurt him! He could fight them off easily," He said "Is that not right, _Mei'Savir_?" He looked over at his father, who was grinning broadly, looking pleased with him now "So there is no reason we cannot all go!" Selim concluded happily.

"I said no!" She snapped. She looked really angry too, not just play angry. Selim was taken aback, he had often heard her get angry with his father but she hardly ever was with him.

"It is not fair," He said in a small, sulky voice "You never let me see anyone or go anywhere. I will have to spend my whole life on this spaceship."

His parents looked at each other; the look that he knew meant they weren't telling him things "Because they still think I am an infant and a coward." He thought miserably. His head was throbbing faintly, making him feel crabbier than usual. It was his mother's fault, because she wouldn't let him go to see the big, stone jungle.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," She held out her arms to him, looking sad now "I promise we will take you sometime soon, you just have to please trust me until then."

He didn't answer. Instead he turned away from her and hid his face against his father's side like the little child they thought he was _"Mei'Savir, my head really hurts!"_

" _Hrmmmm…"_ For once, his father didn't tell him to stop snivelling. Instead he lifted Selim's chin up and studied his face intently, making a clicking noise in the back of his throat _"Do you feel nauseated?"_

" _Maybe."_ He said in a small voice, wanting to milk this unexpected burst of paternal concern for all it was worth. His father lifted him up so that Selim could rest his head on one huge shoulder.

"Selim – " His mother started to say something to him.

" _Lexssss,"_ Selim could feel the vibration of his voice through the side of his face that was pressed against his father's chest _"If you are not going to listen to me just go! He will be safe."_

He didn't see his mother leave but he heard the door hiss shut behind her.

* * *

In her brief phone conversation with Fil, Lex had established that he now lived in San Francisco, that he was willing to meet her and to help her, if he could. He didn't betray any hint that he knew she was a fugitive from justice. She told him the stuff she hadn't wanted to write in the message. She told him she needed to find someone, gave him Iversson's name and what little she knew about her.

"I'll do my best Angel," He said dubiously "I'll start looking. Are you going to come here to meet me?"

"Yes I'll call you half an hour before and tell you where." She told him

They had landed the Chameleon in the relatively deserted San Bruno Mountain State Park just outside the city limits. It was a long way into town but it would've been too risky to land the shuttle anywhere nearer, even with the cloaking technology someone would probably notice a little thing like a spaceship landing on their building.

She felt miserable and angry on the hike down to the city. "God knows I don't want to take risks," She told herself "But we need to find Iversson. Selim's only going to get worse the longer this goes on. We need to find her soon!"

What haunted her most was Selim's parting shot _"You never let me see anyone or go anywhere …I will have to spend my whole life on this spaceship."_ His words sent a shock of scalding guilt all through her. What he said was true; he never saw anyone new. He had no friends. He'd never met any other children. He had only the two of them.

Suddenly she wondered if Scar had been right, right for the wrong reasons. She hadn't done anything physically to stop herself getting pregnant (whatever he might think she had no methods available apart from saying "no" and she rarely did that, for all sorts of reasons) but in her heart of hearts she _was_ afraid. Iversson's words had echoed in her brain throughout pregnancy and her son's babyhood. They'd made her feel she had gambled against ridiculous odds and won. Now, she couldn't help wondering (no doubt Scar must be wondering too) if this thing Selim had in his brain was a result of his hybrid nature. It was like all the terrible curses thrown at them had finally come home to roost.

"No sense thinking like that!" She told herself "I have to keep it together, for Selim's sake. He needs me. He needs both of us to be sane right now. I have to keep things low key which means keeping Scar away from Fil. I know him; he thinks he can just carve pieces off people until they give us the information we need _and_ he's got a jealous streak a mile wide. He makes the green eyed monster look like a goddamn amateur!"

It had been early evening already when they left Reno and now it was dark. She hadn't wanted to prearrange a time and place to meet him, partly because she hadn't known what time she'd be able to get there. She hated to admit it, but there was also a part of her that didn't want Fil or anyone else to know where she was going to be and when, because then it would be much easier to spring an ambush. "I can't decide if I'm being really smart or really fucking paranoid." She thought.

She was in the city now, tarmac under her feet and streetlights overhead. It was a fine evening, dry and clear. A digital clock in the window of a nearby pharmacy read 23.25. If she wanted to see Fil tonight she would have to get moving. For all she knew he might be asleep by now or have turned his phone off – although she hoped that he'd be waiting for her to call. She realised she didn't even know if he had a partner or any children to disturb if she called him very late. Somehow she didn't think there would be.

He had told her he lived in the SoMa District, South of Market Avenue. It was filled with nightclubs, bars, museums, trendy loft living apartments, and techie and internet companies. She had visited the city before many times so she knew where that was. It was going to take her a couple of hours to walk all the way there. She started to look around for a cab.

* * *

Scar waited until Selim started to get drowsy before he put him into the medipod.

"Why do I have to sleep in here Mei'Savir?" He asked, half dozing already.

"To make your… head less painful."He said, keeping his voice low. He could see that the child would be unconscious at any moment.

"Don' care 'bout th' pain," His son mumbled indistinctly "…M'no go…be …"

His voice tailed off. Scar watched him until his breathing became deep and regular. Then he started attaching the sensors to his body, carefully so as not to wake him. Selim didn't even stir. As the lid of the medipod slid closed he strapped his dah'kte onto his wrists and put on his mask.

Of course he wasn't actually going to obey Lex's instructions not to go after her. _"She might believe that this human male can be trusted_ ," He thought _"But_ _ **I**_ _know better. She wants to hang onto connexions from her old life here but I do not have the same sentiments clouding_ _ **my**_ _judgement."_

Scar had learned a lot about humans in the past six years. He'd actually _listened_ to what she told him and something that came through in much of her talk about their society was the overriding importance of _'_ money' _._

It was an odd concept to him. Yautja society was not founded on the principles of commerce. When he'd lived on board the Shadow of Death, as he had done for most of his existence, the clan had provided everything; clothes, armour, weapons, water, food, heat, light. In return he owed them his life – so the theory went – although of course he'd turned his back on all of that.

Human society, from what he could tell, did not work this way. Instead all was mediated through the worship of this 'money'. They would do anything for it, according to Lex; kill for it, die for it (stupidly, what use was it to the dead?), waste their lives pursuing it by various futile means; betray their allies and their blood for it.

" _I saw the look on her face when she told me the amount they are offering as a reward for her capture; it must be a large sum. Very large."_ He thought _"And that means, whatever allegiance this human male has to her will weigh very little in comparison. He has not even seen her for almost six human years, how much loyalty can he retain? She may not be able to see it, but I can. He will betray her, unless his attachment to her is very strong in which case…"_ He flexed his arms and cracked his knuckle joints _"In which case I may have other matters to discuss with him."_

* * *

Lex sat in the taxi and watched the cityscape roll past, velvety and dark, studded with twinkling lights. She didn't like to waste the money – Selim's gold money – but she'd figured that it was wiser to risk being recognised by one person in the darkened interior of a cab than by large numbers of people on a brightly lit train or a bus.

As they slid through the city, she suddenly realised that this was the one night of the year when Scar and Selim probably could have accompanied her in public and nobody would have batted an eye. She'd been too distracted with worry to notice before but tonight must be Halloween. Groups of people in fancy dress walked the streets. Some of them had clearly spent a lot of time and trouble on their outfits.

As they passed a late-night convenience store a thought struck her. They were near enough now to Jonas's apartment. She got the cab driver to let her out and ducked inside, pulling the baseball cap low over her eyes and arranging the fringe of the wig to avoid being caught on the store's CCTV cameras. A few minutes later she came out clutching a cheap Halloween mask, one of the last ones left on the shelves. The rest had obviously been snapped up by clubbers wanting to give a last minute nod to the holiday.

Dodging around a corner into the shadows she pulled off the baseball cap and stowed it in the rucksack and pulled on the leering plastic skull that covered the top half of her face. She felt much more confident now her most distinguishing mark was no longer visible and luckily this was the one time of year when wearing a mask would not make her stand out.

She pulled the mobile out of her pocket and dialled Fil's number. She'd been expecting him not to pick up as it was nearly midnight now, but he answered on the third ring.

"Angel?" His voice sounded a little bit croaky, she wondered if she'd woken him.

"Fil." She smiled a little to hear a familiar human voice "Did I wake you?"

"Nah, party never stops at my place!" He said, sounding like he was stifling a yawn "You gonna come over?"

"I can't do that right now." She didn't want to go to Fil's apartment, even though she told herself it was probably just being nuts and overly suspicious, the stakes were too high for her to completely trust him "How about you come and meet me for a drink?" She said.

"As always Angel, you know the way to my heart."

* * *

Scar stepped off the gangway and breathed in deeply, relieved to escape the cramped confines of the shuttle at last. He'd briefly considered taking Selim with him to see the city _"He is right, it is not fair that he is kept so isolated."_ He thought _"He needs to go out and see some of real life. I should just take him, as he wants to go so much!"_

In the end, he'd had to concede that on this occasion, Lex was right. He was going to need to be able to track and run and fight if the need arose, so it wasn't a good idea for him to be looking out for Selim as well. He could probably do both but he wouldn't be able to do it as fast or as well as he could on his own. Also the boy had seemed exhausted, probably this thing inside his skull was making its presence felt.

" _He is better off where he is."_ He thought _"He is hidden, the shuttle's camouflage will protect him and the pod will alert me if there is any change in his condition or if he wakes up."_

He didn't feel happy about leaving Selim on his own, but it was either that or let his mother go off to face dangers that she didn't even see. As he moved silently through silent woodlands, he reflected again on what his son had said.

" _He needs to have other juveniles around him."_ He thought _"How else is he to learn to fight and to assert himself?"_

His brow drew down, no matter how much he turned the problem over in his head, as always there was only one answer to this problem that he could see _"I_ _ **must**_ _impregnate her again."_ He told himself _"I do not care what any human scientist says; it is what I want so I will make it happen. I just have to be … persistent."_ His mood lightened considerably at this prospect.

As he entered the city, armed and invisible to its inhabitants, he couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. This was what he craved, what he'd missed. This was not piracy against sitting targets or tracking dumb beasts. This the _Hunt._ A real contest against enemies who might present a real challenge… and he had no doubt of there being enemies here somewhere.

He crouched on the corner of a rooftop and deactivated the cloak so he could look at the wristcom. At least Lex was wearing hers. She was travelling away from their current location quite rapidly now, moving away up towards the coast. Even using the rooftops to move around, even if he _ran_ , it'd take him several units to catch her. He grimaced to himself _"Much too long!"_

He looked down at the busy main road below him, human vehicles flowed along it – small ones rather like the one Lex had stolen in the desert but also much larger ones. As he watched a huge transport thundered by, he could even feel the vibrations of its passing faintly through the rooftop – judging by its size it must be some sort of cargo vessel. Not far away from his position, he could also see a bridge stretching over the freeway. The glittering lights of the road curved away into the half-dark ahead. From what he could tell it seemed to be heading in the direction he wanted to go. He nodded to himself and reactivated his cloaking device.

In minutes he'd climbed down and was balanced effortlessly on the rail of the bridge, staring down at the traffic flashing past underneath him _. "It needs to be a vehicle big enough that it will not be noticeable when I hit it..."_

It wasn't very long before he saw the lights of another giant getting nearer. He tensed, waiting for just the right moment; then he dropped, landing on the back of the lorry trailer with a scarcely perceptible thud. He stayed low, talons splayed to keep his balance on the shuddering, metal surface.


	7. Chapter 7

Lex walked the few streets over from the store to The CodeBar. She'd told Fil to meet her there. She'd spotted it on the way and it looked like the easiest bar to get into around here. She knew this place was only a few minutes around the corner from his apartment.

There were kids in costume everywhere. The street was dotted with clubs and bars catering to various differing tastes and clubbers spilled out into the street, congregating to smoke or just to stand around talking.

As she approached the bar – the name of the venue picked out in blue neon over the door, the words entangled in a huge, garish double helix design – a group of girls dressed as zombie cheerleaders split and moved past her, dancing, high-kicking, chanting and waving blood-stained pompoms in each other's faces. A couple of kids sitting around on their motorcycles outside the auto repair shop cheered raucously and tried to spray the nearer ones with beer. She quickened her pace, trying to avoid getting showered with discount booze.

She'd left the cloaking device and most of her weapons back at the shuttle. She hated having to leave the dah'kte behind but they were just too noticeable and she did _not_ want to get arrested. She only had her two knives stuck in her boot tops and the plasma cannon. It was small and lightweight enough to fit in her pocket without making a bulge in the material. The satcom was strapped to her wrist under her jacket. She just hoped she wouldn't get searched.

On her way in she flipped the skull mask up and gave the man on door security her warmest smile. He waved her through without even patting her pockets.

* * *

Scar managed to catch up with Lex just as she walked out of the brightly lit human building. He'd had to change vehicles twice, but finally one had brought him near enough to her position for him to be able to catch her using the rooftops. Now he'd finally got her in his eyeline. She ducked round the corner and emerged from the shadows wearing a white mask. She still wore the strange false hair but he knew it was her. He felt he could have picked her out of a thousand other humans just from the way she moved.

He followed her unseen as she wound through the brightly lit night-time streets, keeping up high so that he would stand less chance of being noticed – by her or anyone else. This place seemed to be unusually crowded. From atop the roof he watched as she threaded her way purposefully in between the throngs of milling humans, a sleek predatory shape slinking through a herd of slow, ambling prey.

He wondered briefly why they were all here, some sort of social event perhaps? None of them seemed especially alert although the fact that there were so many of them might make things more difficult if he had to intervene. Not that he had any doubt he could carve his way through this gathering easily enough if it came to a fight. The main problem was that he would certainly draw attention to himself and Lex had been very clear that she wanted to avoid that.

He was hoping that this other human – this Fil – would meet her outside so he could get a good look at him under the bright, artificial lighting. He wanted to see this 'friend' of hers for himself. Not so that he could attack him, not right now anyway.

For once possessive jealousy formed only a tiny part of his motivation, it was still there alright, lurking in the background, but mainly he was preoccupied by two objectives. The first was to protect her, to save her from herself if necessary. He knew she would be angered by this when she discovered what he was doing but he'd have to trust that her rational side and her allegiance to him would win her over in the end. His other objective… _"Well,"_ He thought _"She is going to like that even less but her rage will not deter me from doing what needs to be done."_

He was disappointed when no other human approached her but instead she turned and walked towards a squat building lit by a glowing blue sign just across from the building where he stood. Her silhouette was swallowed up by the crowd.

After she had disappeared through the darkened entrance he flipped the wristcom open with his other hand and checked the display anxiously. Selim's condition hadn't changed; he was still deeply asleep according to the medipod. With a click in the back of his throat he snapped it shut and reactivated his camouflage.

* * *

Lex pulled the mask back down to hide her face as she shouldered her way through the sweaty crush of bodies inside. She didn't look out of place here, if anything she was rather conservatively dressed. Many people here seemed to have made a big effort for Halloween; some were dressed like strippers or dominatrices or S&M vampires or even playboy bunnies. As well as the elaborate hair and makeup there was an awful lot of flesh on display, spilling out of corsets, or barely concealed under skin-tight PVC, leather or rubber. Lex wondered when Halloween had become so raunchy. She also wondered, given the clientele of the club, how many of the customers dressed like this all the time anyway.

On a stage at the far end of a room a rock band were midway through their set, one of them seemed to be playing his guitar with an angle grinder. Showers of sparks rained down over him and onto the stage; everywhere around her people were drinking and shouting to be heard over the screech and howl of the guitars.

Lex had never been a big fan of nightclubs. She found them noisy, smelly, sticky and she'd never been much of a drinker. Adrenalin had always been her drug of choice. She could just imagine Scar's reaction if she _had_ asked him to come here; the baleful glare, the single mandible curled up in disgust, the tones of blistering disdain _"Why have you brought me to this filthy, soft-meat spawning place?"_

Suddenly she wished fervently that he _was_ here, watching her back. Her hand moved across unconsciously to the wrist com, she could contact him now, tell him to come. As quickly as the thought bubbled up she squashed it. What about Selim?

And in any case, did she really want this party to turn into a massacre? All these people innocently enjoying themselves, meaning no harm, just trying to have a good time. She knew that to her monstrous partner in crime they would just be so much dead meat. " _The_ _soft meat"_ – thathorrible name his species had for hers. She found it disgusting, hated when he said it even as a joke. It sounded unpleasantly carnal and suggestive. It also made humanity into one big homogenous lump of organic matter; easily disposable, barely discernible from one another, there to be used for whatever purpose the yautja decided. She supposed that was how they mostly saw humans.

"I imagine he still feels that way about humanity as a whole even if he doesn't about me. She thought "I don't kid myself I've changed him _**that**_ much!"

She looked around the place trying to see if she could see Fil anywhere, she didn't know if she'd be able to recognise him. She pulled the phone out of her pocket, he had texted her.

I've got a table in the upstairs bar

He'd got here before her; he must live close by. She was surprised and slightly apprehensive. Looking around suspiciously she climbed the metal, industrial-look stairs. The upstairs was not so much another room, more of a mezzanine level – you could still see and hear the dance floor and the band but without having to be in the sweaty moshpit of the downstairs bar. She looked around and after a moment saw a man sitting alone at one of the black leather banquettes. This was unusual in itself as all of the other booths were occupied by laughing groups of people. She stood packed in at the bar amongst the other people trying to get served and peered at him in the huge, condensation-smeared mirror behind the bottles and optics. She bought herself a beer, more for the look of the thing than because she actually wanted one, then she turned and looked at the man properly. He was distracted, fiddling with his mobile phone. It looked like him, he was alone and now she noticed he had a laptop bag next to him on the seat. His sandy-blonde spikey hair, glasses and goatee beard were the same, had been the same ever since they had been at college. They'd always joked that he looked like a punk version of Bill Gates. It had to be him.

Sipping the rather watery beer, she strolled casually in his direction. As she got closer, a lot of her worry vanished in a flush of relief and real pleasure at seeing him. It was the first time she'd seen any human being that she knew from her old life since before she'd left for Antarctica.

As she got closer, she was dismayed to notice that he looked too thin, haggard in fact. He'd always been small and slight in build but now his skin had a papery texture and a sallow tinge and his hair was going prematurely grey. He had an electronic cigarette clutched in his fidgety grasp. She doubted it was a quitting aid; Fil had always been an unrepentant smoker.

"Fil?"

He looked up, as if mildly surprised to find her standing there "Angel?"

"Can I sit here?" She pulled up the garish mask so that he could see her face.

"It's a free country." He gestured with one hand, whilst taking a deep, nervous pull on the e-cigarette with the other.

They looked at each other for a few beats; then both of their faces broke into beaming smiles. He leapt to his feet and they threw their arms around each other.

"I thought you were fucking dead!" Fil said next to her ear.

"You've nearly been right more than once!"

They pulled back and she had a chance to look at him properly. His eyes were still the same, clear hazel-green, but the face that they looked out of seemed to have done more than six years of ageing in the time she'd been away.

He gave her a huge cheesy grin as he sat down opposite her "You still look like a fucking supermodel."

"Thanks." She smiled "You look like shit."

He laughed and took a nervous pull on the cigarette "Yeah well… thanks! I've been ill."

They looked at each other again for a few moments.

"Angel, I can't believe it's really you!" He said "I tried to find out what happened to you. First they said you were missing presumed dead, then when it came on the news I phoned that girl at the foundation – your PA – Marcie? Marsha?"

"What?" She said, puzzled.

" – I felt like the world had gone crazy! I mean – "

"Wait, wait!" She held up a hand "You saw what on the news?"

"About the foundation," He said, then stopped he saw her expression "What… you didn't know?"

"Didn't know what?" The words came out like razor blades, sharper than she intended "What's happened at the foundation? Is something wrong?"

"Angel… you must know…" He said, incredulous "They closed down. They had to after the police put out the warrant for your arrest."

The noise in the room suddenly went quiet, as if she'd been plunged under water. She'd been meaning to cut right to the chase, to ask him straight out for the information they needed, but his news threw her into a storm of confusion and guilt. In truth she had seldom thought about the organisation in the last six years, and even when she did, it was only to idly wonder how they were getting on without her.

She'd never dreamed for one moment that in her absence things would fall apart.

* * *

It didn't take Scar very long to find a way into the building. He scaled up onto the roof, finding a rusted door into the place that clearly hadn't been used for some time. He slammed his shoulder against it and the corroded metal gave with barely a groan of protest. Down a cramped dark staircase until he found himself in a cavern full of flashing, strobing lights and skeletal metal shapes. Up on the roof the noise coming from the interior had just been a constant, rhythmic pulse, but down here it was an echoing wall of discord that made every cell in his body resonate. When he looked down he saw that the narrow gantry he was standing on swayed over a mass of sweaty, undulating humanity.

" _So many of them all packed into such a small space."_ He thought, almost hypnotised by the roiling movement of the crowd in the same way a cat becomes transfixed when it sees a scurrying shape _"What are they doing, fighting… or fucking? They are like kainde amedhe trying to climb over one another in a pit!_ "

He briefly scanned the sticky mass to see if she was amongst them, but he was unsurprised to see that she wasn't. That was not her way, to be jostled and crowded by the flock. Besides she and this 'friend' had come here to talk.

He prowled along the walkway, away from the noise and flashing illuminations. Here at the darker, quieter end of the cavern, there was a slightly raised floor. The gantry hung partly over it and he followed it along. Underneath him, there were parties of humans seated here, shouting and drinking. He saw her right away. She and a male human were sitting together, just the two of them. The platform he stood on hung just a few feet above their heads. He took a long, hard look – scrutinising this _friend_ of hers. _"He looks small, malnourished and weak,"_ He thought scornfully _"Infiltrator? He should try his hand at some real infiltration. I doubt he would get far!"_

Satisfied that her companion presented no serious competition he turned his attention to the humans around them, watching for any movement that seemed unnatural or out of place. He was so sure that this had to be a trap that he was becoming edgy, irritable. This place was getting to him; all this noise, these humans in close proximity – all this _soft meat_ – it made his blades thirsty. It would be so much simpler to just abandon all pretence of concealment, to leap down amongst these unsuspecting creatures and seize her. He could hack a bloody path through them and drag her back to the Chameleon, no matter how much she bit and fought and cursed his name. This he knew how to do; this he understood. Not to mention the pure, unadulterated joy of killing. _"Now that_ _ **would**_ _be fun!"_ He repressed the urge and made himself focus. He was not here for sport.

It was difficult to make out her expression at this distance but her body language was distracted, unaware. How could she not be totally concentrated on what she needed to do? He growled softly _"I knew all along it was a bad idea for her to meet this phantasm from her former life. It has unbalanced her."_

He understood how it worked – understood it better than her – because he had lived through it. She was trying to make her new life coexist with her old. She wanted to come back and step into her past; tread those old trails, see familiar faces, but he knew she wouldn't be able to do both. He had been doing the same when he had stupidly taken her back to the clan. Their short and ill-fated stay on board the Void Cutter had nearly shattered his mind into a million pieces and killed them both. He had tried to sustain his former life but in the end he realised he had to choose; either he could keep her and Selim or he could go on being who he had been.

He had made his choice.

She would soon come to the same realisation; her old self had to die.

Impatiently he studied the other humans around her, all the while the uneasy feeling pulled at him, telling him he should be back at the Chameleon with Selim.

He watched. There were a few humans here who seemed to be taking an unusual amount of interest in his female and her 'friend'.

* * *

Lex stared at Fil in horror "They closed down?" She whispered.

"Well not right away, but in the end they didn't really have a choice – the publicity was so bad. They couldn't keep going when one of their board of trustees is a wanted terrorist!" He dropped his voice down low at the end of this sentence.

"You know about that?" She said, quietly.

"I mean Lex you were, like, their poster girl! It totally ruined their image…" He trailed off as he saw her genuine shock "Wait, I mean… wait, how can you not know all this?"

"I …just… I've been away…"

He laughed in disbelief and took another long drag "Lex, it was all over the news! Your picture was everywhere. Where the hell did you go that you didn't even hear about it for five - six years?"

He watched her for a few moments, waiting for her to answer him whilst she sat there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. She couldn't believe that everything she'd worked so hard to achieve for most of her life had just gone, disintegrated and crumbled away. Illogically she'd always imagined that no matter how much she'd changed everything back on Earth would stay exactly the same; preserved in amber forever. Part of her just wanted to tell him everything, unburden herself. Three times she opened her mouth but shut it again, something restraining her.

"Fil, I can't tell you. I wish I could, but I can't." She took a deep breath "I came here because I really need you to help me find this woman."

"Yeah you said. Why do you need to find her so badly?"

"I can't tell you that either. She used to work for the government, maybe still does. She's a scientist. She used to work at a secure government facility in the Nevada desert about five years ago. Now, I don't know where she is, but I need to find her."

"Mmmn, you said on the phone," He chewed one fingernail, looking down at the table "Is that the one you broke into?"

"Not exactly," She was a little surprised he knew but told herself she shouldn't be. Of course he'd read her 'Most Wanted' page, she had been stupid to think he wouldn't "I was there," She said eventually "But it wasn't the way they made it sound. I was trying to escape …"

"Escape?" He looked uneasy "Lex, what have you gotten mixed up in? What is it you want from this woman?"

"I can't tell you that either, but Fil …" She leaned across the table and looked him deep in the eyes, her fear and desperation laid bare in her expression "I have to find her. It's life or death to me." She said simply.

He squirmed under her gaze. She couldn't tell whether it was the naked misery in her face making him uncomfortable or something else. Whatever it was, it made a tingle run all through her. Something felt… wrong.

"I'll… I'll do what I can Angel." He said falteringly.

She tried to smile but it felt as grisly a rictus as the plastic mask. All her senses had gone onto high alert; the music was suddenly grating, conversations around them sounded false, braying voices too loud. Abruptly she realised that she'd been so pleased to see him that she had let her guard down, she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings at all. And she'd left her mask off – the clan blood mark was visible!

Goosepimples were popping out all over her flesh. Her hand crept into her sleeve and got a grip on one of her knives. Under cover of taking another sip of the horrible beer she surveyed the room. Two women laughing together over something looked at her just a little too long; eyes bright and inquisitive, a large blonde man at the bar seemed to look away just as she glanced up.

She shook her head "I'm just being nuts." She thought "The pressure's getting to me. How would anybody know to look for me here?"

Then a voice behind her said "Alexa Woods?"


	8. Chapter 8

Lex turned to see a tall man standing over her, gaunt but muscular; t-shirt, jeans, leather jacket, buzz cut. His eyes were very pale blue, giving him a piercing expression. Suddenly, he was standing right next to the table on her right, blocking her from getting up from her seat.

She looked across at Fil. He was staring up at the newcomer, seemingly petrified.

"Who wants to know?" She kept the knife hidden under the table.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come with us ma'am."

"On what authority? Who are you?"

"Ma'am, I think you'd better just come along with us."

Behind him she could see the blonde giant had abandoned all pretence of not looking at her and was coming their way.

Without waiting for him to say any more she snatched up her beer bottle as if she was about to glass him but as he grabbed her left wrist she used her right hand to plunge the knife into his thigh. He bawled in pain. She pulled the blade free and as he bent to clamp his hand over the wound she leapt up onto the table and kicked him in the face hard. Her boots were tough and heavy and she saw his nose burst in a spray of blood. He went flying backwards, crashing into a group of clubbers, knocking a table and several of them to the floor as he fell. There were screams and shouts of indignation and panic as a slew of glass and alcohol went crashing everywhere.

The blonde giant arrived at a run but she still had the bottle in her left hand and as he got close enough she clubbed him over the head, it exploded against his temple in a shower of weak beer and glass fragments. As he collapsed to his knees, the third man made a grab for her. She sliced at his hands with the broken bottleneck and he fell back, bleeding.

Fil was still sitting there watching her with his mouth open as if in shock as she jumped down from the table, seized him by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on!" She yelled at him.

"Lex what the –"

"Get up! We have to go!"

He just had presence of mind enough to grab his laptop bag before she sprinted towards the stairs, pulling him after her. They pounded down the steps and onto the dance floor, some of the more sober dancers falling back out of her way as she dodged and pushed her way through the heaving crowd towards the exit with Fil still in tow. She'd already got her knife concealed up her sleeve again but a quick glance back showed her two more men thundering down the stairs and roughly shouldering through the crush after her. She dragged Fil to the exit, running out into the street unhindered because the door security hadn't seen the fight up in the mezzanine bar, they were now busy wading towards the two burly guys shoving kids off their feet on the dance floor.

As they ran out into the cool night air she scanned the street rapidly for a means of escape, the subway station was just a few streets away. She considered just running straight for it but ahead of her the front doors swung open on a large white unmarked van parked a little way down the road from the bar and two more men jumped out and started to make their way purposefully towards her. Up ahead she saw more men getting out of another van, a blue one this time, and start towards them from the other direction, cutting off their escape that way.

She changed direction as she saw ahead of her the two bikers who had sprayed the cheerleaders with booze, still leaning on their motorcycles outside the repair shop across the street. She ran straight towards them, dragging Fil along in her wake, pulled the plasma cannon from her jacket pocket and pointed it at them "Get off the bike right now or I'll fucking shoot you." She said.

They stared at her. For a moment the guy even looked like he might argue but as people around them screamed and started to scatter, they saw the pursuit behind her and their faces froze.

"Here just take it lady!" Said the nearest one, throwing the keys at her in terror. She caught them. Still keeping the gun pointed at them she swung her leg over the machine, a Honda 250, and motioned to Fil to get on behind her. The running men were almost on them. "I'm really sorry boys." She said to the petrified teenagers, revved the Honda up and took off down the street, swerving easily around the men who stood in their way.

* * *

Scar watched the fight in the bar unfold; anxiety quickly turning to amusement as she effortlessly took out first one, then another assailant and then a third. The throwing blade he stayed poised between his fingers as she slid through their grasp and began to run like all the hells were on her heels towards the door. He followed her across the dance floor along the rocking gantry, shadowing the men chasing her. The blade was still vibrating impatiently between his talons and, unable to restrain it any longer, he let it go.

It found its target, burying itself in the vertebrae of one of the humans unwisely pushing their way towards his female and the human went down, disappearing underneath the writhing crowd. He sent another blade in the direction of the second pursuer who also collapsed. Screams started to drift up to him as the humans started to realise something was amiss and he purred in satisfaction _"Let them try and follow her now!"_

Quickly he sprinted back up the staircase and out onto the rooftop, just in time to see her and the human male come running out into the street. He saw the vehicles doors open just as she did, saw the two humans get out and hurry towards her, saw more pursuers getting out of another vehicle further up the road. She was surrounded!

He growled in alarm, he _couldn't_ stand by and let her be captured… but he was just too far away to use the throwing blades. He'd either have to use the plasma cannon or kill them up close.

He was already poised on the ledge of the building, about to leap to her defence, when he saw her pull her own firearm on the two juveniles. The crowds around them – the more alert ones anyway – started to scream and run. She'd stolen another vehicle! A small one this time, but it seemed able to go at quite a speed. And she'd taken the human male with her. Her pursuers stopped their headlong dash as they realised they weren't going to catch her up on foot and began the scramble back to their own transports. Scar began to scale quickly down the building, getting as close as he could to the enemy vehicle. He knew what he had to do _. "Now there is no other way;"_ He smirked to himself _"Now I will have to take much more direct action."_

He leapt, landing with a muffled thud on the roof of the white transporter just as it sped off in pursuit.

* * *

Lex tore down the street, weaving past the few cars on the road, trying hard not to do anything too dramatic that might spill them off the bike. She'd spent a year riding round dirt roads on bikes not much different to this one in Cambodia and Vietnam but that had been years ago and her instincts were rusty. Plus Fil had obviously never rode pillion before, he didn't know how to lean into the turns properly so it was hard enough stopping the bike from spilling over. She checked her mirrors, the blue unmarked van was a few cars back, but they were gaining.

Coming up to a junction she undertook a Toyota that was idling in the middle lane and sped over the lights just as they turned red, feeling Fil's grip tighten around her waist as they flew across just in front of the revving traffic. In the rear view she saw the pursuers dodge around the Toyota and come hurtling out into the intersection, wheels screaming on the tarmac and a blast of angry horns as a Porsche narrowly avoided going right into their passenger door. The van swerved around it and managed to get across but they had lost ground on her. She saw the freeway coming up and hung a left beneath the overpass, hoping she could lose them, cursing when she saw the blue van follow and then a flash of white. The second van was creeping up.

She pushed the bike harder, trying to leave them behind, but it was already going at pretty much its top speed already and it was carrying two passengers "I had to steal from some kids on chicken chasers; I couldn't have run into someone on a real bike!" She thought as the van overtook a bus behind her.

She saw a turnoff to the right and peeled off as sharply as she could without turning the bike over, shooting off in another direction down a palm tree lined avenue. She heard tyres squeal as the van swung round, trying to turn. Then she saw both the vans appear behind her, blue was getting closer now but white was coming up fast in the distance, and she realised that going down a straight road without many cars on it wasn't a very good idea because they could definitely overtake her on the long stretch.

She pushed the bike as hard as she dared, jinking and weaving in and out of the traffic, the occasional blare of an angry driver. Cutting across onto another minor road she tried to shake them off and noticed suddenly that there were many more partygoers packing the pavements here. Turning another corner she suddenly saw why; the road was closed, blocked off with barriers for an enormous Halloween street party. Throngs of people in costume crowded the road, making it impossible to get through even on the bike.

In her rear view mirror the van pulled round the corner behind them, she made a split second decision and stopped. "Come on!" She said over her shoulder to Fil swinging her leg off the Honda "We can lose them in the crowd!"

"I'm going outta my mind here Lex," He panted "Just what the fuck is going on?"

She didn't answer him, just concentrated on squeezing through the press of people, hoping the crowd would swallow them up – make them disappear. Competing sound systems blasted a variety of different music and all around her there were people in elaborate costumes dancing and drinking.

"We have to get back to the shuttle," She thought "But it's just such a long way. Maybe I should use the wristcom, call Scar. We may need him!" Again, she felt a surge of regret that she had told him not to come but what other choice had there been?

There was a squeal of brakes and she turned her head briefly to see the blue van screech to a halt just next to the barrier.

She and Fil pushed their way through a group of dancers in skeletal bodypaint in front of a bar blaring out music with a pounding, shuddering bassline into the night air. Glancing back quickly she saw several men working their way through the crowd in the direction she had come, fanning out around them.

"Oh God, we're surrounded." She said quietly.

"Angel," Fil said in a whisper "Whoever these men are, can't you just try reasoning with them?" As the circle of enemies closed around them her gaze flew from one grim faced, dark clad man to the next. There were too many people in the way right now for them to start shooting at her but she had no doubt that they were armed – though with what she didn't know. They hadn't shot at her in the club which probably meant they were intent on taking her alive but she couldn't be sure.

"I don't think they're going to listen to me Fil," She said pulling out the plasma gun, keeping it low so as not to attract too much attention "I think the time for talking is over."

There were so many people here in crazy costumes that nobody else seemed to notice but Fil's eyes widened as he saw the weapon.

"Lex!" He hissed "What the hell are you doing?"

She turned to him, eyes unnaturally large and glittering "Not going down without a fight!"

* * *

As the van lurched underneath him Scar held on tightly to stop himself from being thrown off. Up ahead, with his targeting system gunsights, he could see the distant shape of the blue vehicle and the even more distant shape of Lex and the human male.

Abruptly she dodged off to one side and disappeared from view. The transport underneath him swerved off after her and he hung on grimly, crouched low against the metal. With the mask's thermal imaging he could see there were several humans inside this vehicle; two in the cockpit (as he thought of it) and four more inside the main cargo area. All of them were heavily armed. There also seemed to be a lot of machinery or electronic equipment inside it too. He wondered if that was unusual, his knowledge of the workings of human vehicles was limited.

As they swung onto a long straight stretch of road he saw Lex again as they started to gain ground on her.

 _"_ _I must do something! Neutralise these humans before they can catch her!"_ He thought. The other enemy vehicle was gaining on her even more rapidly. Then coming up fast in the distance, he suddenly saw a sprawling morass of heat signals; lots of humans, a big crowd unexpectedly congregating around an upcoming crossroads, blocking their path.

 _"_ _If she is forced to go on foot they will surely overtake her."_ He thought _"She runs fast but there are simply too many of them, I have to kill them now!"_

He began to crawl forwards, pressed against the metal. The transport was fairly hurtling through the night; the wind drag pushing him flat. When he reached the part of the roof that was above the cockpit he looked up, they were coming up on the huge crowd. Any moment they would stop and then all these humans would get out and start running after her with all their nasty weapons.

Looking down at where the two humans were with his thermal vision he hung over the side and smashed the window with his fist. As shards of glass rained down into the cockpit he grabbed the nearest human, yanking him from his seat and tossing him out onto the highway. His startled scream dopplered away into the distance. The other human, the one who had the wheel, fell back into the corner fumbling with his automatic weapon. Scar pulled himself back up onto the roof, then jerked to one side as a line of steel slugs ripped upwards, perforating the metal just inches from his face. Shifting quickly to the other side of the cockpit directly above the man, he drew his arm back, extended his blades and rammed them down through the roof with a crunch, skewering the human right through the head. The man shuddered and went limp, sagging sideways in his seat, but his foot must have stayed on the accelerator because the vehicle did not slow down. If anything its velocity increased.

Pulling at the metal at the edge of the jagged hole to make it wider Scar reached down through the roof and seized the wheel, knowing this was how the vehicle was steered from watching Lex do it. He heard panicking voices coming from the cargo area but they were much too late to stop him now. Looking up ahead he saw the huge mass of red heat signals coming closer and closer, now starting to split apart and dissipate into its component atoms.

He grinned and wrenched the wheel hard.

* * *

Jonas Haagens was not having a good night. He'd read all the FBI stuff about Lex, he knew she was a wanted criminal, but nothing had prepared him for the moment in the bar when she'd suddenly stuck a knife in that guy's leg.

Three of them! There'd been three of them and she'd just taken them all out one after the other. It had happened so quickly he'd not even been able to comprehend it before she'd wrenched him out of his seat and dragged him down the stairs.

What had disturbed him the most was her face; it hadn't changed at all. From sitting there at the table to stabbing someone her expression had remained serene throughout, like a statue of the Madonna in church. It had frightened the shit out of him.

He glanced sideways at her now; she still had that same look. He shuddered a little, the movement sending a little needle of agony shooting through the old injury. The pain made him think of that time on the mountain.

The long cold, trek up there had been tiring but exhilarating although his enjoyment of it had been tempered by the presence of her surly, resentful, climber boyfriend. Inexplicably for someone so intelligent she had always seemed to be attracted to these double Y chromosome types who he suspected probably took ice baths and beat themselves with birch twigs for fun and – worse – never seemed to have any discernible sense of humour.

He didn't even recall swinging the ice axe, just the astonishing, world-ending pain and shock.

Then… he'd been glad of her unnatural composure then. He remembered looking into her huge dark eyes whilst she told him he was going to be alright; he was going to make it, help was on its way and so on and on for what seemed like hours. Calm, measured, poised; she'd saved his foot. Actually she'd saved his life he realised afterwards. He could easily have bled to death on that mountainside.

Maybe one of her jock friends would have helped him – her boyfriend, that big, blonde Swedish douchebag who looked like a member of the Waffen SS – what had been his name; Kurt? Kristoff? Fucking Klaus? Maybe Klaus would have tied the tourniquet on his ankle if she hadn't done it. He doubted it though.

On that day, only her glacial calm had kept him from total and utter panic and despair. Back then he'd felt pathetically, almost religiously grateful. He'd meant it when he called her his Guardian Angel. It made tonight all the more awful.

He thought again about the FBI "Most Wanted" rap sheet: " _Hostage taking… Arson… Murder"_ Multiple murder, actually. He'd read her "Most Wanted" page but he hadn't believed it… until now.

He wasn't sure if he was her hostage at this moment. He'd never been at home with confrontation or in any situation that involved physical violence. When she'd grabbed hold of him in the club he'd been too scared not to obey her instructions, afraid of what she might do. He'd never have thought he could ever feel that way about her.

"This is the girl I went to college with," He thought "We went on demos to save the fucking whale for Chrissakes. I was horribly, futilely in love with her all through my twenties!" He just didn't want to believe that girl who used to laugh at his awful jokes, who did normal stuff, who loved Italian food and Nina Simone had changed into a woman who was capable of doing such terrible things.

He looked around nervously at the crowds that pressed in around them on all sides, an array of leering ghouls, muscular angels and scantily clad witches. He tried to make out the men that were following them. The street was jammed with people, but he could see dark uniforms pushing towards them.

His attention was suddenly pulled away as he heard screams from back the way they'd come. He craned his neck, trying to see over the crowds, but for moment he could see nothing. Then people started to run and he saw the white van speeding towards them, not slowing down even as it approached the crowd barriers. As he watched, transfixed, the vehicle careened out of control and turned over onto its side with a deafening noise of breaking glass and metal grinding on concrete. Terrified party-goers fled for their lives as it slid along the street bursting through the barricades and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, finally coming to a stop with an ear-splitting crunch as it smacked into a fire hydrant. A geyser of roaring white water fountained up into the air, spraying the surrounding area, the remaining bystanders shrieking at they were caught in the sudden downpour.

Then in front of the van something shimmered, an electrical spark hung there followed by another and another, all coming together and fusing to make up a figure. He wondered if he was hallucinating as a huge humanoid shape appeared, materialising as if by magic.

Jonas stared; suddenly he knew that tonight was about to enter a whole new level of fucked up.


	9. Chapter 9

Scar straightened up slowly as the deluge soaked him from head to foot. He knew that the water meant he would be seen but there was no help for that now.

In a way he preferred it.

He wanted these insolent humans to look upon him and tremble _"Then they will realise how foolish they have been in harassing and pursuing my female… just before I destroy them."_

He began to walk swiftly towards the remaining crowd where he guessed she had to be, becoming more visible with every step as the sparks crackled and fizzled all around him.

Even though the majority had fled, there were still too many humans in the way for him to be able to see Lex immediately. As the cloaking device finally spluttered and died he stopped and engaged the 'Seek and Scan' function on his mask, intent on finding her. As he stood still for a moment he suddenly became aware of eyes on him and turned to see a group of humans – male and female – watching from only a few feet away.

The nearest one stretched out a hand at him, one finger extended, pointing "Dude," He said "That is one badass costume!"

Scar didn't understand what the human had said, it sounded like nonsense. He worked on the basis that he was in the midst of enemy territory; therefore it was probably a challenge to his dominance. Retracting his blades he reached behind his back and drew his twin swords with a snarl. The insolent human blenched and fell back, his companions similarly scrambling away. They were unarmed anyway so Scar did not bother to pursue them, laughing softly to himself _"Run soft meat, run away in terror!"_

Suddenly, he caught sight of Lex; the dispersing crowd meant that she was now visible. At the same moment he saw her, she saw him and her black eyes went wide with surprise, her expression a curious mixture of rage and … was it relief? Her pale headed companion, meanwhile, looked as if he might be about to vomit or pass out.

Seek and Scan was now telling him six armed men were ranged around her and the other human. He hadn't noticed them before because they had been screened by a loose group of unarmed humans that for whatever reason still had not fled – and these men had come equipped for serious trouble. The display inside his mask showed him they were carrying dart-guns, body armour, semi-automatic weapons… _"It seems they were expecting us,"_ He thought _"Interesting... and unfortunate for them they will not get a chance to use them!"_

He began to run towards her through the panicking humans, knocking aside those who weren't quick enough getting out of his way. The first target turned as Scar reached him, just in time to get his sword in the gut. Body armour or not, he gave a strangled cry, folded up on the point of the blade. Then he grunted as Scar slammed the second sword downwards into his spine through the gap at the nape of his neck. The next man got as far as pulling his automatic weapon when Scar seized his head with his free hand and twisted it sharply to one side, snapping his neck.

As he yanked the blades free the unarmed humans – the few determined gawpers who hadn't yet bolted when the van crashed through the barrier – started to scream and run in terror. As the remaining four armed targets swung round to face the new threat, he saw Lex level her own gun and shoot two of them whilst they were still gaping in astonishment.

Grinning broadly under his mask he leapt towards the nearest remaining target and, as the human looked up at him swung the sword at his throat, releasing a gush of hot blood. He spun as he landed, bringing the blade round in a wide glinting arc, neatly beheading the sixth man with a pleasing silken sound.

As the corpse toppled to the ground he turned to see Lex standing in front of him. "Where's Selim?" She gasped.

 _"_ _Safe,"_ He flipped open his wristcom _"In the medipod. I have been monitoring him, see? I would not allow any harm to come to him, you know that!"_

She grasped his wrist, twisting it so that she could see the display, then she looked up at him furiously, eyes glinting with rage. He thought for a moment she was going to hit him and grabbed hold of her, pinning her arms to her sides "Scar, what the fuck are you _doing_ here?" She hissed.

He shivered. Her voice always had that effect on him when she talked right up close to his ear like that. Then, over her shoulder, he noticed her golden headed friend… his second objective. The human male was standing there with his mouth agape. As he saw Scar's head turn his way, he suddenly came out of his trance and made a movement, stumbling backwards.

Scar growled. Still holding Lex tightly against him so she couldn't see what he was doing, he reached out one long arm and brought the hilt of his sword sharply down on the Fil's head. The man crumpled at their feet, unconscious.

As he loosened his grip on her slightly, Lex turned and exclaimed in surprise when she saw her friend out cold "What the hell happened to him?"

Scar shrugged _"He must have passed out from fear!"_ He said, contempt dripping from every syllable.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously _"Did you do that?"_

At that moment sirens blared behind them and an artificially amplified voice yelled "Alright Samurai Jack, this is the SFPD! Put the lady down and drop your goddamn weapons!"

Scar made quick glance over one shoulder, only four armed humans, clustered around a vehicle with flashing red lights – they were not so heavily armed as the twelve they had just dispatched but armed nonetheless. Quickly pulling a grenade and activating the switch with one talon he threw in the direction of the vehicle the voice had come from, yanking her to the floor as bullets whizzed overhead. There was a blinding flash and the hot draft of an explosion followed by a few clangs as bits of burning metal bounced away across the floor.

He raised his head and looked from side to side. Seek and Scan was showing him more armed humans a little distance off coming their way. It would probably not be a good idea to hang around.

With very little effort he picked up the unconscious male. He was surprised to find that this human was not even as heavy as Lex. He was only a little shorter than her but when Scar had lifted him up there was no weight to him.

 _"_ _This is not the time to argue, we must leave!"_ He snarled at her _"Or do you want me to carry you over my shoulder also?"_

* * *

Lex didn't answer his question but her eyes flicked over to the approaching flashing blue and red lights. San Fran's finest had started to arrive en masse. She could see other police who must have already been here for the street party also beginning to close on them, drawn by the light-show of plasma fire and their colleagues' calls for backup. She began to run and he followed, looking behind them to pick off any armed pursuit.

She ran out through the barrier into the road on the side furthest from the ruined van and the still gushing fire hydrant, now surrounded by other emergency vehicles. There wasn't much traffic left on the road, most people having fled for their lives. A few cars were parked up but she didn't feel confident about hotwiring one – she needed the keys. The only vehicle that was occupied was a battered pickup and as they got nearer she realised why. The music blaring from the stereo must have drowned out all the noise of the crash and the fight. She could see the driver sitting there wreathed in smoke, nodding his head in time to the grinding heavy metal. She ran up to the truck and pointed the gun at him through the window, but he didn't even notice her standing there. Then she wrenched the door open and grabbed him by the upper arm, tearing him out of his seat and throwing him onto the asphalt.

The driver straightened up angrily – he was quite a big guy she now saw, with long dark hair in a ponytail and an array of obscene and pneumatic looking tattoos covering his straining biceps.

"Give me your keys!" She yelled, pointing the gun in his face.

"You crazy bitch! What the fu - " He lunged towards her but she spun on one foot and kicked him in the jaw, not wanting to kill him if she could avoid it. He fell back, staggered momentarily then he went for her again. At that moment, Scar arrived behind him and spun him round by one shoulder, seizing him by the throat. He lifted the man off his feet and pulled him up close to his masked face with a spine tingling growl.

"Give… us your **keys**!" He said in sepulchral tones.

"They're in the f-f-fucking ignition!" The man said in a panicky voice.

Lex was already pulling herself into the driver's seat as Scar flung the terrified human aside and swung himself into the back of the pickup. Dumping the still unconscious Fil into the flatbed of the truck he turned to see two more cars pull up behind them with flashing lights. As the engine started he shot at the wheels of the police cars, the heat of the plasma bursting and melting the tyres and fusing them onto the tarmac in a cloud of steam. He threw himself flat as the cops returned fire, bullets bouncing off the metal sides of the truck – luckily these humans were not carrying high velocity weapons or they'd have gone through. He could do without being shot full of holes. Crouching down he engaged the multiple targeting function on his mask, then he reared up again and shot four of them, the shoulder mounted gun swivelling rapidly as it zeroed in on their movements. Continued shouts and curses made him think that he had probably not managed to kill all of them.

Suddenly the vehicle lurched into motion under him as Lex put her foot down, the truck screaming away from their pursuers down the darkened street.

Lex checked the mirror, whatever Scar had done to those police cars just behind them seemed to have put them out of commission, but she couldn't take it for granted that more wouldn't show up. As she thought this, right on cue, she heard sirens and saw more flashing lights in the distance behind them.

"Shit!" She really hoped those cops hadn't had time to radio in a description of their vehicle and registration but even if they had, she'd just have to try and lose them. She really didn't want to end up in a Mexican stand-off with the whole San Francisco police department. If they could just get back to the shuttle everything would be alright.

Or rather, this immediate problem would be solved. There were still a whole pile of other problems for her to deal with that would make shaking off the SFPD seem like just a fun little diversion.

* * *

Lex finally ditched the pickup on the side of Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, one of the roads running through San Bruno Mountain Park. She'd managed to get them out of the city very quickly and the sound of police sirens seemed to have died away but she imagined the engine and the suspension was now even more shot than when they'd stolen it. She'd driven the last twenty miles or so without any lights on because she hadn't wanted to advertise their presence to the police helicopter she'd heard circling in the distance, no doubt looking for them. Luckily she'd been able to pull her mask out of her backpack as she drove so with enhanced vision it wasn't as dangerous as driving in the pitch black. The place where they had landed the shuttle was in a clearing in a small patch of woodland so they would have to walk the last few miles.

As she got out of the van Scar jumped out of the back, and lifted Fil – who remained out cold – out of the truck and onto his shoulder. Neither of them spoke as they slogged their way through the scrubby woodland. Lex for her part was just in a hurry to get back to the ship and reassure herself Selim was alright. No matter what the wristcom said, she was worried. Through the trees she could just glimpse the city lights in the distance.

When they got back to the Chameleon she was dead tired. Her eyes felt sore, tight and gritty and every inch of her skin felt begrimed. When finally she reached the ship she dashed up the gangway, through the hatch and down the corridor to the medipod.

Selim was there, safe and sound, deeply asleep.

Relief swept through her as she saw her son's untroubled face, his chest rising and falling peacefully. "Thank God he's ok!" She stood there for a moment leaning against the door frame, rubbing her tired eyes. She pulled the plasma cannon from her pocket where it had been hidden and put it down on the console of the medipod. Feeling much too hot inside the craft after being in the open air, she yanked off the jacket and threw it on the floor. As quickly as the relief of seeing Selim had come, it was washed away by torrent of incredulous rage as she remembered Scar had left him on his own.

"What the hell was he even thinking?!" She thought furiously, marching into the cockpit intent on dealing out instant karma.

He was standing in the darkened inner lock, the outer hatch sliding shut behind him and she launched into him before he was even fully through the door "Just what the hell kind of game were you playing tonight?" She demanded "Leaving Selim all alone when you know he's sick?!"

He didn't answer her immediately but stepped into the room and looked down at her appraisingly. She got the impression he was taking a deep breath, counting down, mastering himself. As she stared up at him angrily, she also recalled that he was carrying Fil over his shoulder.

 _"_ _Your 'friend' has still has not woken up."_ He said, unslinging the limp bundle from his shoulder and laying him on the floor at her feet. She frowned as he rolled Fil over with one foot and she saw the face under the blonde spikey hair.

"Scar," She said, suspicion written all over her face "What did you do to him?"

 _"_ _Nothing… yet."_ He said testily _"He is only unconscious."_

As she stared at him dubiously, going over the events of the evening in her head, she suddenly realised he could not have found her so quickly just on the spur of the moment. He must have been there all along, tracking her.

"You followed me! You -" She was so caught between disbelief and anger she struggled to find the words "You jealous…lying… controlling… _motherfucker!_ You followed me!"

 _"_ _Yes."_ He replied, infuriatingly impassive _"I did not like leaving Selim alone but it was necessary. I knew you would not be pleased but I trust that you will realise I had good reason."_

"I _realise_ you're so crazy that you'd abandon your own son just to come and check up on me!" All her tiredness had suddenly drained away to be replaced by the rocket fuel energy of rage "Why did you knock Fil out? Why did you bring him here? Do you want to make him suffer, is that it? Want to prove to everyone who's the alpha male in my life? Mark your territory, is that it Scar?"

 _"_ _First of all, it was you who brought him along when you escaped from those men who attacked you initially. Unless you wanted me to leave him unconscious and surrounded by enemies I assumed you wanted me to bring him here."_ He said slowly _"Secondly, this human is too weak to be a serious rival to me. He is barely able to look at you, much less touch you. This has nothing to do with my jealousy, and if you were not so saturated with emotion and longing for your old life you would see that."_

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

 _"_ _As you say, I followed you so I saw what happened tonight. This creature,"_ He indicated the supine form of her friend _"Has betrayed you. How else could those other humans have known where you were going to be? Only if_ _ **he**_ _told them. There is no other explanation."_

"Well maybe they picked up the shuttle on some scanner? Maybe someone saw me in Reno?"

 _"_ _Then why did they not take us both the moment we landed?"_ He purred _"Why did they not capture you in the other city or take the shuttle whilst we were both gone, hrmmmmm? His treachery is the only explanation that makes sense."_

"So what if he did?" She almost yelled at him "What does it matter now? Did you drag him all the way here just so you could say _'I told you so_ '?"

 _"_ _Do you seriously think our best chance of helping Selim is to find this scientist, this_ 'Iversson' _?"_ He asked abruptly.

She was momentarily wrong-footed "You know I do. I can't think of any other solution, can you?"

He waved away the question _"And you think that this male here would know how to find her?"_

"Yes, it's the kind of thing he's always been good at – I thought he could help us." She said, defensive now "Why else do you think I went to meet him?"

 _"_ _Then why do you think I brought him here?"_ He said patiently, she still looked dumbfounded " _Lexsssss, I sometimes think you are the most intelligent life form I have ever known and at other times you can be surprisingly stupid. Selim's life depends on finding Iversson; this human may know where she is. I would guess he did not tell you during your brief conversation earlier?"_

She shook her head slowly.

 _"_ _I thought not!"_ He clicked mirthlessly at the back of his throat. _"Well then, if as you say he does know, I will make him tell us."_

"I knew it! This is just an excuse for you to torture him. I suppose you're going to tell me you won't enjoy it?"

 _"_ _What does_ _ **that**_ _matter?"_ He shrugged _"Can you think of a better way? He has already proven to you that he cannot be trusted."_

"I thought it went against your sense of _honour_ to kill someone who's helpless and can't fight back?" She spat.

 _"_ _Yes that_ _ **is**_ _so."_ He shrugged again _"But if it is a choice between Selim's life and my honour then we both know which I will sacrifice first!"_

At that moment, they both turned as the ex-hacker stirred and groaned.

Fil was waking up.


	10. Chapter 10

As Scar and Lex watched, the ex-hacker's eyelids fluttered and he moaned again. His hands went up to cradle his head and then finally he peered up at them, bewildered. It took a few seconds for him to focus on the two of them but the moment he saw the hunter, his face froze in a terrified grimace and he scrambled back across the floor in panic.

Neither of them made a move to stop him; Lex because she was still conflicted, Scar because he knew the human could not get out through the locked door.

"Lex?" Fil croaked, his teeth were actually chattering "Lex, what the fuck is this place? D-d-did you bring me here?"

"Let me handle this." She said to Scar in an undertone. He looked at her for a moment and then stood back, leaning against the console and folding his arms. His manner stated clearly that whatever explanation he was about to hear, it had better be spectacular.

"Calm down Fil," Lex said, walking towards the other human with her hands spread "We just want to talk to you."

"Who – " Indicating the hunter with a trembling finger " – **what** is _he_?"

"Scar? He's… someone who looks out for my interests." She tried to keep her voice calm, neutral "Fil." He didn't look at her so she said more sharply "Fil!" He turned "You remember earlier, I told you I needed your help and then those men came and tried to arrest me – who were they?"

"How the f-fuck should I know?"

"Come on Fil." She knelt down next to him so they were eye to eye "How long have we known each other? I know you're keeping something from me; I sensed it in the bar. I know the government is offering a lot of money for information on me –"

"I didn't give you up for the reward!"

She blinked and a sick feeling started to build in the pit of her stomach. So emphatic but so specific…

"But….. you _did_ give me up?" She prompted.

"I –" He looked as if he was about to start an angry denial and then his eyes darted to the hunter watching them silently from the other side of the cockpit, and he faltered "I just… I mean ... I … didn't..."

She tried to sound sympathetic though she felt nauseated, she didn't want him to clam up on her "You didn't what Fil?"

Behind her Scar lifted his hands up to his mask. Fil's eyes slid past her to watch him apprehensively. Slowly he pulled off the pressurised screws that held his visor in place. When he was sure that he had the human's full, petrified attention he pulled the face plate off and turned towards him, yellow eyes virtually glowing in the dim light.

Fil gave a strangled cry and scrambled back even further until finally his back was right up against the wall. His shoulder blades seemed to be trying to burrow their way through the metal, but his gaze was riveted on the hunter's face.

"Who did you tell?" She said, he looked at her madly "You must have told someone about me."

"Nobody!" He squeaked.

She glanced over at Scar. He ignored her and focused all his attention on the man.

"I don't believe you Fil." She said "Scar says that there's no other way they could have known I was there… and I hate to say it, but I can't think of any other explanation either."

"Lex, I swear I didn't – "

As he started to deny it again, Scar suddenly lunged across the room and seized hold of Fil by the shoulders. Lifting him off his feet and pinning him to the wall, he brought his snarling jaws right up close to the luckless man's face. Fil actually screamed this time, so paralysed with fear he didn't struggle but went rigid.

"Jesus Christ!" It was a hysterical shriek "Let me go!"

"Scar for God's sake put him down!" She said angrily.

 _"_ _He will not understand so I want you to translate for me!"_ Scar said to her, spreading his mandibles further, still looking into Fil's eyes.

"We're already talking!"

 _"_ _He is telling you nothing and it is taking all night!"_ He hissed _"Now; if you do not want me to torture him, translate for him what I say!"_

"Alright, alright!" She said making her tone calm, trying to placate him "But I don't know why I have to – "

 _"_ _Because it is more intimidating if he does not understand me."_ Scar said over his shoulder, not taking his infernal gaze away from the human male _"He must tell us to whom he has betrayed you, or I will_ _ **make him suffer**_ _."_

"Please, Lex!" Fil was actually weeping now " **Please** don't let him hurt me, just please God tell me how to stop this!"

"Fil!" She said quickly "He wants to know who you told about me. How did those men know I was going to be at that bar tonight?"

He started to talk but the words came out garbled, tumbling out almost too fast to make sense.

"Slow down!" She said looked at him over Scar's shoulder, trying to hold his eyes, make him focus on her "Who made you do what? Were they from the FBI?"

"Weyland!" He was sobbing now "They were from Weyland Corps!"

"Weyland Corps?" She was perplexed "What the hell do Weyland Corps want with you? How do they even know who you are?"

"They want you Lex!" He snivelled, tears and snot now dribbling down his face "I don't know why but they want you really badly! They came to see me and they knew all about you, knew we were friends; they told me thhey could make it worth my while if I'd promise to contact them if I ever heard from you. When I said I wouldn't take the money they threatened me – "

"They offered you money?!"

"Yeah, a lot of money," He gasped "And when I said I wouldn't take it they knew all this shit about me – "

"What do you mean; they threatened you?"

"They knew about the hacking! They must've hired somebody pretty A-1 to check me out because that sort of stuff's hard to trace for anyone but a pro." He sniffed, tears welling up in his eyes again "I'm not in a good place Lex, I've been partying pretty hard, hitting the booze and … and the coke. They musta had me followed! They were going to tell my boss about the drugs; worse than that! About the hacking! I'd have lost my job, my apartment, maybe been arrested - "

 _"_ _You see?"_ Scar rumbled _"He betrayed you, he admits it himself!"_

At the sound of his voice Fil lapsed into terrified silence. Lex stared hard at him.

"And knowing the sort of people they were, you gave me up to them?"

"I had no choice!" He cried, in desperate appeal "I'm not like you Lex! I'm just an ordinary guy - not some kind of action hero! I hadn't seen you for six years and I thought you were fucking dead! I'm sorry but I didn't want them to destroy my fucking life!" He broke off dissolving into tears again.

 _"_ _I am losing patience with this creature."_ Scar tightened his grip causing Fil to freeze in terror _"Ask him Lexsss – where is this_ 'Iverrrrr-sssssson' _? That is what we came here to discover. Say that if he does not tell us immediately I will skin him from the feet up so he can watch!"_

"Just put him down Scar!" She said, furious now "I'm not going to stand here and watch you skin him alive!"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Fil was all but hyperventilating now.

"Jonas!" She said "You have to tell me; that woman I told you about – Iversson – do you know who she is? Did you get a chance to look for her? I know it's hard to remember right now but please just think: the woman I asked you to find –Jeanette Iversson – did you manage to dig up anything on her?"

"Iversson?" He said blinking in stupefaction.

 _"_ _I have had enough of this whining."_ With the hand that wasn't pinning Fil to the wall Scar extended his blades.

"She works for them!" Fil screamed, his face was almost as grey as the metal behind him.

"Who?" She said, turning to look at him.

"Iversson w-works for Weyland Corps!" He gabbled "That's why I was f-f-freaked out when you asked about her – I met her! I met Iversson, least she said she was Iversson, the other woman said she was..."

Scar lowered him to the floor and sheathed his dah'kte but he did not release his grip on Fil's shoulder.

"When did you meet her?"

"At their HQ in N-New York a-after they first contacted me," He struggled to get the words out "I d-didn't know w-w-what they wanted. Thought they were gonna offer me a j-job. She w-was there, Professor Iversson. She intro-d-duced herself to m-me as their head of life sciences, I remember c-cos I thought "isn't that what they c-c-call vivisection" …"

"What did she look like?"

He sniffed and rubbed a hand over his mouth "Tall, classy, b-blue eyes, New England accent, kinda like a schoolmistress."

Lex narrowed her eyes, that was a pretty good description "Do you have a contact for her, an address? A phone number?"

"Lex, I met her for like – five minutes – she just happened to meet me by chance."

"How long ago did you meet her?" She asked slowly.

"About six m-months…"

She thought for a moment, if it was true then it couldn't be coincidence. She looked at Scar and could see the same thing going through his mind; Weyland Corps wanted to find her and now it transpired that Iversson was working for them? "There's no way it could be accidental, it all must fit together somehow!" She thought "But what could have made Iversson quit her job with the government?" If Iversson had really left the unit dedicated to the studying and combating the hunters and their activity on Earth, why had she done so? And what could she be working on for Weyland Corps?

Lex thought she could probably guess.

 _"_ _You know where this is?"_ Scar was looking at her speculatively _"This place he talks of?"_

 _"_ _I know the city,"_ She said _"Their headquarters should not be hard to locate and then we - "_

 _"_ _Then we must leave now and not waste more time."_ He finished for her _"I will kill him quickly so that we can go."_

 _"_ _Kill him?"_ She said, shocked _"But he has told us what we wanted to know. Surely we can just let him go?"_

"Lex, what the fuck is he saying?" Fil said shakily "Please tell me you're going to turn me loose – I don't kn-know anything else!"

 _"_ _Let him go?"_ Scar snorted in disbelief _"So that he can go and warn Iversson we are seeking her? Are you out of your senses?"_

 _"_ _He would not do that!"_

 _"_ _Yes he would."_ Scar said bluntly _"Whatever the reason, he has already proven to you that he would, and if you let him go he_ _ **will**_ _do it again."_

 _"_ _Can we not just leave him on an island somewhere? Somewhere remote, to give us some time…"_

 _"_ _We do not have_ _ **time**_ _."_ He wasn't angry, he was trying to reason with her, trying to explain

 _"_ _Keep him prisoner then!"_ She said desperately.

 _"_ _Where?"_ He gestured around the shuttle _"We do not have a cell, the pods lock from the inside. Do you trust him to be free on board while you sleep? Do you trust him around Selim? Who is going to guard him while we do what needs to be done?"_

He was right; there was no cell, nowhere to keep him. Yautja did not give quarter to prisoners from enemy clans. Any warrior careless or unfortunate enough to be taken alive knew that his period in enemy custody would be extremely brief. If he was lucky he'd get a quick death, if not he might be eviscerated or strung up and left to die somewhere.

She shook her head _,_ that might be their way of doing things but it wasn't hers.

 _"_ _Selim, does not have time for this."_ He said insistently _"You need to decide what means more to you; your son's life or the life of this treacherous parasite."_

 _"_ _It is you who is making me choose between them!"_ She said hotly _"What if it you had found out Rika had betrayed you, would you have let me kill him?"_

 _"_ _Lex_ , _"_ He said slowly _"You should know better than anybody that if I discovered Rika – or anyone else – had betrayed me as this tapeworm has done you, I would kill him myself!"_

She knew _that_ was true. Lex screwed her eyes shut and rubbed her hand over her mouth "Maybe he's right. What he's saying is so brutal, but there's an awful logic to it."

She opened her eyes to look at Fil who was looking piteously from one of them to the other, cowering against the wall. As much as she knew Scar's cold-blooded reasoning made sense she couldn't bring herself to accept it. This wasn't some faceless soldier; he was her friend of many years standing. With both her parents dead years ago he was one of the few people who'd known her from when she was young.

In fact he'd been there for her when they had died; he'd gone to both of their funerals and he'd sat with her afterwards. No matter what he might have done she couldn't look into his weeping, begging eyes and let him be taken to his death. If she allowed this to happen, the last tattered shreds of her humanity would be gone and the person she had been in her old life would finally be dead.

Taking her silence as consent Scar seized his intended victim and pulled his head back. Fil gave a shocked scream.

"No!" She grabbed hold of his arm, knowing that if he was really determined she hadn't the strength to prevent him "Scar, stop! I won't let you - "

"Mommy?"

All three of them turned, frozen in an awful tableau in the red light of the control console, to see Selim standing there. She thought for a moment the noise had woken him, but he didn't even seem to see Fil there. He was leaning against the hatch to the corridor and when he lifted his head she saw his eyes were streaming with tears. He held out his small hands to her "Help me Mommy!" He said "My head hurts! It really huuurts!" The last word was a wail of pain.

In a split second she had her arms around him "Selim!" She said, showering him with kisses "Selim! I'm sorry sweetheart! Let me put you back in the pod and get you some painkillers!" She lifted him up and he clung on tightly, with his arms around her neck. She felt his tears wet against her shoulder.

 _"_ _You see?"_ Scar's voice was even more guttural than usual _"He is getting worse. We have run out of time. Let me end this now so we can go."_

 _"_ _Are you really going to do this?"_ She hissed, staring at him fiercely over the boy's shoulder _"Murder him in front of your son?"_

 _"_ _Do not let him watch then!"_ He spat back at her _"Stay here!"_ And he pulled Fil upright with one hand and hauled him towards the door.

Immediately the colour drained out of her face and she froze, still holding Selim, his face buried in her neck.

The airlock slid open. It was now the early hours of the morning and the pale, spectral light streamed in along with a pervasive chill which stole immediately into her bones.

Scar dragged the human out and down the gangway like an executioner taking a prisoner to the block and she stumbled after him, clutching their son as tightly as if he were the one to save her not the other way round. The the hill the shuttle rested on was surrounded by thick, white mist and everything was saturated with condensation. Fil's pleas and sobs sounded very loud set against the birdsong that filtered in from the trees and scrub on all sides – not quite the dawn chorus yet.

Scar reached the bottom of the gangway and hauled him through the grass, leaving a trail through the silvery dew. She followed down the metal ramp and across the cold ground. When he stopped just a few feet short of the trees, she stopped too as if turned to stone, petrified by indecision. She had a feeling that no matter what she did now, something awful was about to happen. Selim shivered in her arms and she shivered along with him.

He forced the trembling man to his knees on the saturated ground. Fil had ceased to plead or scream or beg. Now he just stared up at the hunter, unable to do anything but wait for the inevitable, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

Scar glanced up at her, enraged to see her standing there with Selim clutched against one shoulder _"Take him back inside!"_

" _Please… do not do this!"_ She said almost crying herself now _"He is the nearest thing I have to family left on this planet."_

 _"_ _You are wrong. He is nothing to you, his treachery should be proof enough of this._ _ **Selim and I**_ _are your family now."_

 _"_ _S'Kia!"_ He looked up again at the use of his real name _"If you kill him… I will never forgive you."_

He paused at that, weighing up whether she really meant it. Seconds slipped past.

Then he drew a deep breath, as if resigned _"In time I think you_ _ **will**_ _forgive me but even if you do not ….then I must suffer it. Whatever the consequences, I must put my offspring first."_

He pressed the palm catch on one hand, bringing the blades of the dah'kte shooting out with a sound that rang through the stillness of the dawn.

Then she saw something flicker over him, a bunch of bright red points of light hovering on his skin like angry insects.


	11. Chapter 11

As Lex stared in horror at the swarm of red crosshairs clustered on Scar's chest like glowing gunshot wounds. He must have caught sight of them at the same moment because he looked down and then up in alarm, too late!

In that instant there was a whine in the air and a clutch of fat, black darts embedded themselves in his arms and chest with a rapid smacksmacksmack! He released his victim, flinging Fil violently aside and roaring in fury. He tore a handful of them from his flesh, just as another phalanx of darts whistled out of the fog and hit him in chest and throat. Desperately he scanned the woods trying to see where the attack was coming from but without the mask nothing was visible except for dripping trees and drifting vapour. He couldn't even use the shoulder plasma cannon's targeting system without his mask.

He put his hand up to pull the gun from its shoulder mounting but whatever was in those darts must have been strong and fast-acting because he couldn't co-ordinate his movements. He turned, took a few steps towards her and fell to his knees, she could see he was trying to talk but couldn't. She didn't need to hear him to know what he was trying to say: _"Run!"_

As if suddenly released from an evil spell she wheeled and fled, still clutching Selim, back through the whispering silver grass to the Chameleon, finding her way by memory to where the cloaked ship was.

As she ran, a dark shape reared up out of the mist to her left. Holding Selim hard against her she lashed out and kicked him in the groin. He collapsed onto the wet grass and she sprinted on towards the ship.

Just as she reached the spot where she knew the gangway to be she saw another shadow loom up on her right, saw the flickering red light, heard the "ker-chack!" of a dart launcher reloading.

Before they could fire a loudhailer split the air in the clearing

"Alexa! Stop!"

That voice! Lex knew that voice; she'd heard it often enough for it to be imprinted on her brain forever. She skidded to a halt, not quite sure what caused the muscles in her legs to freeze so suddenly.

The voice came again "Stand down, all of you! We can't risk harming the child!"

Lex turned, panting, tears running down her otherwise stoney face, to see men in dark combat fatigues emerging from the undergrowth, keeping Scar covered with their guns. The hunter now lay unconscious but still breathing in the grass.

Fil had scrambled to his feet and was standing uncertainly a few feet away.

All this she saw but her main attention was on the tall woman who had stepped out of the shadow of the trees. Unlike their last meeting she had exchanged her usual suit for a bullet proof vest and dark fatigues, but Lex knew it was her all the same.

"Professor Iversson?!" She said, hardly able to believe her eyes or her ears.

Iversson lowered the loudhailer, not needing it to be heard in the silence "Good morning Alexa. Are you going to put a stop to this violence now?"

"How can you be here?" Lex edged back warily, this was the woman who had conspired to keep her a prisoner all those months.

Iversson walked forward. If she was at all afraid after their last meeting – when Lex had broken her arm, threatened her with a knife at her throat and taken her hostage – she didn't show it. She crossed the clearing with hands spread wide as if Lex was her long lost daughter. "We can discuss that later," She said calmly "I know you've been looking for me Alexa. Is this your child?"

"This is my son. Selim."

"Ah – your son." Iversson's eyes lit up and she craned over, trying to get a closer look, her voice faltering with emotion "He is incredible."

When she saw his eyes rolling back in his head her own eyes went wide with alarm "What's wrong with him?"

Lex swallowed, but why lie? After all this was what they had come here for "We think it's a tumour, pressing on his brain. He has seizures, pains in his head. It needs to be removed. Soon. He doesn't have long."

Iversson nodded as if this was exactly what she had been expecting.

"I can help him Lex, if you let me." She said "But you have to cooperate. I promise that if you do I will try my best to save him, but you have to give yourself up now without any further bloodshed."

"How do I know I can trust you? That you'll save him and not just dissect him?"

Iversson met her gaze earnestly "There's not much I can say to prove it to you, all I can do is tell you the truth: I will do all I can to preserve your son's life."

Lex felt Selim's whimpering breaths against her shoulder, then looked past Iversson to where Scar lay, out cold. If she surrendered now, all three of them would be prisoners. Who knew what Weyland Corps real purpose was, why they wanted her? She would be placing their lives at the mercy of a huge faceless, corporate machine.

On the other hand, what other option was there? Scar was already captured. Without him she didn't know if she would be able to pull off a kidnapping, especially as Iversson had obviously been alerted to their intentions.

She had left her own plasma cannon on the Chameleon. She _might_ be able to make it back on board without being darted herself but even if she did, Selim needed help. If he didn't get it he would die a slow, agonising death.

She looked into Iversson's serious blue gaze and decided to gamble.

"I see I have no choice but to trust you." She said steadily "Just know this: I swear to God if you don't keep your promise, you _will_ regret it."

Iversson nodded and put a hand on her arm to guide her down the hill towards the waiting men. Beyond the Professor, she caught sight of Fil watching. He turned away, unable to meet her eye. She ignored him, he was still alive – apart from that he didn't matter now. Nothing mattered but her son.

She willed herself to stand still as the hired muscle came to take Selim from her and strap him onto a stretcher and attach him to a drip. He whimpered a little but seemed too out of it to really notice what was going on. She was handcuffed but at least she was allowed to stay with him as they were herded onto a helicopter transport.

She didn't see where they took Scar.

She rested her cuffed hands on Selim's bed and held his frigid little fingers in her own.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." She thought, numb and cold as the morning chill "Sorry I got us into this, but I couldn't think what else to do to save you baby. I just hope Iversson does what she promises… or I'll kill them all."

* * *

Scar drifted in a dark, weird place fathoms deeper than sleep. He struggled but something held him fast under the oily surface. He heard a voice speaking that he didn't recognise. Then Lex emerged through the murk of the dream, as she did in most of his dreams… those he could remember anyway. She materialised naked in front of him as inky clouds swirled around them like smoke underwater. Her eyes were half closed as if in a trance, watching him from between dark lashes.

She gave him a little half smile that made him shiver, drifting closer and wrapping her arms around his neck.

 _"I thought you were never going to forgive me."_ He said, surprised.

 _"I do not forgive you."_ She replied.

Suddenly she drew back and opened her eyes wide. They were black, not just her own dark irises and pupils but fully and utterly black, like obsidian; like the eyes of the deity with whom he always conflated her in his mind: the bitch goddess, the soul eater.

He stared at her.

 _"Want to prove to everyone who the Alpha male in my life is?"_ She said and then brought his arm up to her mouth and bit him hard on the inside of the elbow, sinking her incisors into the vein there. Enraged, he seized her by the hair and jerked her head back, ripping her teeth out of his arm and pulling her face up close to his. She smiled, green blood trickling from the corners of her mouth. With a long shuddering breath that was pure lust, she backhanded him across the jaw. She was stronger than usual, supernaturally strong. As he was smashed backwards, she followed and suddenly she was all over him. He had not been able to resist her as a human, he had no chance now that she was a goddess.

She ran her hands over him greedily and her limbs were winding around his so tightly that it was actually painful, but he always liked it better when it was painful.

As she stared into his face, her soft human lips trembled with suppressed laughter and then parted to reveal teeth that were getting sharper and longer by the second.

 _"Marking your territory, is that it S'Kia?"_ She sighed in a voice that was not her own but as if a chorus of a thousand female voices were all speaking to him at once _"You jealousss… lying… contrrrrolling …."_

As she spoke her face and body started to morph in front of his eyes. Her smooth skin became hard and chitinous. Her face changed so that her eyes receded horrifyingly into her skull that stretched and contorted. She was growing, lengthening and changing shape, until she was bigger than him, huge and monstrous. She held him fast in her giant steel claws and her razor toothed jaws gaped open. From within slid the mucus covered inner mouth _"This is what you want, is it not?"_ She said, her voice making his head hum.

 _"No! What nonsense is this?"_ He was desperately struggling to free himself from her now _"What are you talking about?"_

Her eyeless head snaked closer to him but instead of using the inner jaws to strike at him she began to force them down his throat.

He tried to fight her off but he was choking as the horrible tube pushed its way down his oesophagus, suffocating him. _"This is what you truly desire, you and all your kind."_ She crooned, as the awful darkness smothered him her words echoed inside his skull _"Death."_

* * *

Lex watched dully as mile after mile of ocean rolled away underneath them, featureless, flat and lead-coloured.

They'd been taken by helicopter to a landing strip and then transferred to a private plane. Through it all she'd been like a sleepwalker, almost as if she had no will of her own now she'd surrendered. She could do nothing now except look after Selim. She sat next to him, alert for any little signs that he was in distress. She allowed herself to be cuffed to the side of the bed, hardly noticing the way the metal bit into her wrist but chafing at the way it made it awkward for her to hold his hands.

Through it all Iversson sat opposite flanked by two black-clad soldiers ("But they can't be soldiers," Lex thought "She doesn't work for the government anymore, so they must be mercenaries. It's all private money now…") Sometimes the Professor watched her, sometimes she watched Selim. Lex looked at her out of the corner of her eye "Maybe it's my imagination," She thought "But it's like she's yearning to touch him…. to be near him… I guess he would've been her life's work if I hadn't escaped. Maybe she's hoping he still will be. I just wish I knew that I could trust her to save him…"

She suddenly raised her head and looked Iversson directly in the face "Where are you taking us?" She asked "Wherever it is, it's taking too long! I told you Selim needs _urgent_ medical help. When are you going to start giving it to him?"

She noticed the two mercenaries on either side of Iversson suddenly looked a little more alert ("They don't look like they'd be that much of a challenge," She thought, watching them assesingly "I'll bet I could take at least one of them out before they could stop me, even cuffed to the bed.")

The Professor only winced a little "Keep calm Alexa, it won't be long." She said hoarsely "We have to get to our facility and then I promise Selim will get the help he needs – we're just thirty minutes away."

"You really don't need to keep me cuffed Professor, after all where would I go?" She said with a grim little smile "Why don't you get your toy soldiers to take the bracelets off? I just want to look after my son and I need you a lot more than you need me right now."

Iversson met her gaze "I'm not going to do that Alexa, I think we both know why."

Lex sighed and held Selim's hand up, pressed her lips against it – his flesh had been chilled earlier now he was warm and sweaty. They'd given him something to bring his temperature down but he still felt feverish.

Sea fret rose up to meet them and now, through the wall of grey mist she suddenly saw a landing beacon blazing red like a burning torch. A shape began to appear looming out of the murk – a huge manmade structure sitting on the surface of the water. At first she thought it was an aircraft carrier but then she realised it was too massive. As the curtain of wet gloom parted she could see the outline of a vast complex laid out in the rough shape of a barbell; two islands linked by a covered passageway.

For the first time since she'd been captured Lex registered a flicker of interest "What is this place?" She asked Iversson.

"This is Weyland Corporations research complex," The Professor seemed gratified by her interest "It's quite something isn't it? Most of my team virtually live out here for half the year."

"It's like a city, but I didn't know Weyland Corp had branched out into marine sciences," Lex frowned "Why out here – don't you have facilities in the States?"

"We do but our more … sensitive work takes place here," Iversson "We're in international waters now."

Lex looked up at her "So you've brought me to another place where I have no rights. A legal no-mans-land this time hmm, Professor?" She shook her head "I see your basic MO hasn't changed."

"Alexa," Iversson sighed in a pained manner "Do you think we'd be able to do what we need to for your son on the mainland without interference? We need somewhere that secrecy will be assured. Out here we can control things, keep Selim away from prying eyes."

"So you built all of this _just in case_ I came back?" Lex looked at her sceptically "That seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to just on the offchance."  
"I don't like to leave anything to chance Alexa," Iversson said carefully "Nor does my current employer. You'll meet them induce course, and then you'll understand."

Lex subsided, there was no point in resistance now. Or rather there was no point in resistance _yet_ , but all the while the plane was descending through the murk her brain was working overtime.

"So far so cryptic," She thought "I've made my choice and now I've got to play this gambit through, at least until they've done what they can for Selim, but what the hell do they want from me? It sounds like Weyland Corps have been after my missing-presumed-dead ass for six long years. They must have some _very_ pressing business with me to go to all this trouble."

She sighed "What does it matter? As long as they save my baby's life! I just hope I haven't delivered us all into their hands for nothing."

"And Scar," Finally she turned her thoughts towards him, still angry "When you said you'd do whatever was necessary to save Selim's life did that include handing yourself over to be kept prisoner by a bunch of soft meat? Not what you had in mind, I'll bet."

Despite the stormy conditions they touched down smoothly on the rain-lashed landing strip. As the plane came to a stop she heard a tortured metallic groan and then a grinding, whirring noise. The light from the planes small windows, already pretty dim under the lowering clouds, was all but blacked out as huge dome shaped shell closed over the plane. When finally it shut with a deafening boom, fluorescent strip lighting blinked on all around the metal hangar.

They uncuffed her from the gurney and she allowed herself to be led down and across the puddled deck by the two plastic soldiers, sticking close to Selim's side. Through the miasma of gut-twisting anxiety she couldn't help but notice that this place was a pretty impressive creation. She'd been expecting cramped metal rooms akin to something on board the Piper Maru but once they got below decks the facilities they were ushered into were spacious and state of the art, at least on these upper levels – the place had looked like it stretched down for a good long way from what she'd been able to judge. Of course some of it had to be underwater so it was hard to tell just how deep down it went.

They rounded a corner into a room very minimally done, just a bed in the room. No chairs, no nightstand – a cell. Just like her cell in Nevada. As she turned to protest, one of the plastic guards took her arm and jabbed a needle into the vein there. He'd depressed the plunger before she even realised what he was doing.

"You're fucking double-crossing me already Iversson?" She screamed, trying to push past the guards as two others came to take her son off down the corridor without her. Already she could feel her knees starting to go, her vision blurring.

"It's just better if you take a rest for a couple of days Alexa," Iversson said almost pityingly "There are tests we need to run on him, things we need to do. We have the best doctors and surgeons money can buy here, just let them do their job. I promise I'll wake you when it's over. "

"When it's over?! No! No! I _need_ to be with him." She said desperately, willing herself to stay awake _"He's my baby!"_

"You don't need to worry Alexa," The Professor's voice sounded almost disembodied "I'll look after him as if he were my own."

She felt herself going under and in the last coherent moments she heard a strange, terrible voice on the edge of consciousness, just an animalistic hiss _"He's **not** yours, he's **mine**!"_

Just as she blacked out, she realised it was her own voice speaking.


	12. Chapter 12

Professor Iversson waited until she'd seen Lex safely unconscious before turning to leave. As she did so she saw two members of staff, Briggs and Rathbone, had arrived.

Rathbone was head of security and Weyland's chief administrator, although she often thought of him as being more like Chief Enforcer. Briggs was the team leader in charge of all things medical.

"Is all the equipment here?" She asked Briggs and he nodded briskly, his intelligent eyes dark and beady behind thick lensed glasses.

"All arrived from the mainland a couple of hours ago, just like you requested Professor." He replied in his usual clipped tones "We're good to go for the CT scan and the MRI scan, plus the medical team are standing by."

"So Patel and Warner agreed?" Iversson asked.

"For what we offered them you bet they did!" Rathbone said, his dark and angularly attractive face taking on a look of heavy irony "Even for such _elevated medical luminaries_ it's well worth their while, believe me!

"They've been told they have to be here and available over the next week and then on call afterwards." Briggs put in, looking faintly nettled.

"And you think their discretion can be relied upon?" persisted the Professor.

Only someone really listening for it would have heard the slight tremor of anxiety beneath her smooth, professional composure. When she'd been part of a government unit she'd had access to in-house physicians and medical equipment – whose time and silence would have been taken as read. Now it was a question of hiring in, which made her uneasy.

She had been assured that the contracts these specialists had been hired under were pretty fireproof but she still had her doubts "Almost unlimited money might give you access to the top surgeons in any field you care to name," She thought "But what's to stop them going public with what they know?"

"I spoke with both of them personally," Rathbone smiled with satisfaction, as if reading her mind "Neither of them will know enough for them to say conclusively what we're doing here and with what they've signed we could sue their asses from here to Kingdom Come for breach of contract. They can't prove anything… and even if they could we have insurance in place – "

"Alright, there's not time to go over that now." Iversson cut him off hurriedly. She knew the Corporation had ways of enforcing its will on people. Even those who were determined to cause problems soon found they had some fairly compelling reasons not to do so. She didn't like to probe too closely because she suspected what she discovered would not fit very well with her own code of ethics. Rathbone was – she suspected – utterly unscrupulous, but he was also fantastically competent at making problems go away. He reminded Iversson of some of the CIA operatives she'd worked with over the years – in fact she strongly suspected he might have had some former experience in that field. Just like them, there were parts of his job she didn't want to know about.

He shrugged "Have it your way Professor."

"Shall we take the child down now?" Briggs asked. As usual anything outside his specific area of responsibility was just an irritant to him.

"Yes." She said firmly "Go along without me and start prepping him for the scan. Tell the team to be very careful now. If he does have a brain tumour as his mother seems to think, we don't know how far advanced it is."

Rathbone raised an eyebrow "How _is_ the prisoner doing?" The security chief couldn't help the look of avid curiosity that stole over his lean features.

"We just put her under," Iversson said "I can't risk having her make trouble over these next few hours, I don't want to have to worry about what she might be getting up to. She looked like she was going to pass out from fatigue anyway. Now… what about the exotic?"

"He's over on the North Island," Rathbone said "I transferred him to your team there personally."

"Then that's where I'm going next." Iversson said "I want to make sure he is secure so I can devote all my time to the child."

He gave her a quizzical look "You don't trust your team to do it?"

Iversson gave him a cool smile, detached and professional. She had her own reservations about her team, but she wasn't about to share them with this corporate attack dog.

"Like you, I always find it's best to see to important details personally," She said, in a tone that declared the subject closed "Now I really must go, I want to get back as soon as possible so we can get started."

She turned and clicked purposefully down the corridor, until she reached South terminus, the entrance to the corridor that gave access to the North Island. She pressed her finger to the DNA recognition pad, held her eye in place in front of the lens and keyed in the code. The door slid open noiselessly.

The two man-made islands that made up the complex were connected by a long, enclosed passageway suspended above the surface of the water. It was so long in fact that there was a small railcar that could carry you over if you didn't want to spend the best part of thirty minutes walking across. When she arrived at the North Terminus ten minutes later and – once her DNA and biometric eye scan had been accepted – she stepped out into Island North.

This part of the complex was a lot more basic than Island South. The riveted, cast iron and harsh strip lighting was more reminiscent of the interior of a warship or an oil rig than a state-of-the-art corporate HQ.

The huge degree of separation between the two main parts of the complex was intentional, planned specially for just such an eventuality as today. She'd explained to the board of Weyland Corp it would be best to have a facility where they could keep as much distance as possible between certain subjects. She entered the elevator and pressed the button. As the lift sank further and further, so did the temperature. It was a long way down. She was now entering the levels of Island North which were below the surface of the ocean and that made it cold. Both of the Islands had floors that were underwater and this too was intentional. The idea was that being surrounded by water made it more difficult to escape.

Her high heels rang on the floor as she walked down the gun-metal grey corridor. Both islands were something of a rabbit warren once you got down to their lower levels but the corridors of Island North were particularly labyrinthine. Chilly, dank passages wound around and around, all looking the same. Several of her staff had spent their first days on the job hopelessly lost in the bowels of Island North – the ones who were cleared to be down here anyway. There weren't very many who were. This was where the Corporation kept things that were… sensitive.

When she reached the end of her journey she showed her ID to the men on guard down here and then all the electronic security procedures had to be gone through yet again. When finally the thick metal door opened to admit her, the heat hit her in the face like a wall. She stepped into a control room large enough to house a small lab, a giant bank of monitors and control panel. There was also a window made of super-thick glass through which you could see into the room beyond which was only partly illuminated.

As she entered from one door Lloyd, a member of her team, was just emerging from the shadowy holding cell. Danzig, another of her staff, was seated in the chair overseeing the panel.

Iversson stifled a slight feeling of irritation that she always felt whenever she saw the pair of them. It could not be denied that both of them were fantastically gifted scientists but something about them set her teeth on edge.

Physically they could not have been more different. Lloyd was a tall, blonde Californian who, despite his brilliant intellect, always put her in mind of an over-enthusiastic golden retriever. Danzig was slender, intense and pale with a broad brow and deep-set eyes. He had a habit of quoting Nietzsche – which he obviously thought made him seem profound. It was all part of the air of superior ironical detachment he cultivated. It irritated her immensely.

"Be honest with yourself Jeanette," The Professor told herself "They're both just too damn _young_!"

As soon as the thought popped into her mind she squelched it, telling herself she was being unfair and unrealistic "Both of them are over thirty-five, hardly teenagers! And both of them have proven themselves to be responsible in the five years they've been working for me. I'm just getting old." Iversson thought morosely.

She herself would be sixty the following year.

Ridiculously, both men were wearing long cotton shorts and t-shirts. Even though it was blowing a frigid gale in the outside world, down here wearing anything else would be unbearable for any length of time. They were keeping it warm for the sake of their new acquisition – one of the few things they knew for sure was that his species liked the heat. She could already feel beads of perspiration starting to pop out all over her brow and prickling between her shoulder blades.

Lloyd wiped some sweat out of his eyes. He was wearing his surfer's shoulder length blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and flip flops on his feet. This was something else that made her tut under her breath even though she knew she was probably just being mean spirited. The room was very humid.

"Oh hey Professor," He said "Couldn't wait, huh?"

"I've just come to check in," She said "How is the exotic?"

"Looking good," He said "Pulse, respiration and body temp all healthy and about what I'd expect. I already took bloods, DNA and tissue samples."

"No sign of regaining consciousness?"

"Still totally out of it, man!" He grinned at her, his teeth showing white in his tanned face "The number of darts we took outta that thing – it's gonna be asleep from now until Christmas"

"'He' Lloyd," Iversson said, ever the stickler for accuracy "I think from all the available evidence we can safely say he's a 'he' – not an 'it'."

"Oh, yeah," He snorted, raising his eyebrows "I guess we can!"

She ignored the innuendo and continued "And I don't want him asleep until next year, just the next few days or so. I very much hope at some point we'll be able to wake him up."

"Well _he's_ hooked up to a pretty heavy dose of morphia for now," Danzig put in "We have him on oxygen and we're monitoring him in case there's some sort of adverse reaction, but barring that he should be nice and peaceful for a long as you want him to be. In the meantime we can continue our observations until you want to install the spinal implant."

"Yeah," Lloyd grinned "We've been thinking of codenames. We can't just keep calling them Mom and Dad, it's too messed up! They need proper codenames like … I don't know … Mars and Venus or something."

"Lloyd," Danzig interrupted, his large pale forehead creased in a pained expression "If you're going to plunder the ancient world for references Hades and Persephone would be infinitely more suitable."

"Hmmm," Iversson gave a slightly weary sigh and walked past the two of them to look through the viewing window. It was the first time she'd actually seen him up close; he was even more bizarre and horrible and breath-taking then she'd imagined. It was hard convincing herself he could be real "An actual alien life form in my custody!" She thought "As career defining moments go this has to be pretty near the top of my list."

"Come here, both of you." She said sharply. When they both came to stand next to her at the window she said "It's strange, even though my whole life I've been working towards this, it's different now I see him with my own eyes. You study something so long from a distance; you forget this is a living thing." Lloyd opened his mouth to say something but she held up a hand, cutting him off.

"Living things are amazing; that is why we do what we do," She continued "But they are also unpredictable, violent and they can be dangerous. You have to remember to respect living things. I would suggest that what we have here is one of the most amazing and the most dangerous organisms either of you is ever likely to see. This creature broke into the last facility I worked at, not just one of his species but – I am fairly certain – this actual individual. On his own he killed over thirty-five people, many of them trained, heavily armed soldiers, in a variety of very unpleasant ways. One of them, I seem to recall, he dispatched by ripping off his head and spinal column. With his bare hands."

It was impossible that the exotic could have heard her in his sedative-laced torpor behind the thick layer of glass, but one of the large, clawed hands twitched very slightly, taloned fingers flexing… almost as if remembering.

She glanced sideways, saw Lloyd swallow. It was all too easy to imagine them closing around your throat.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Iversson said pleasantly "If this subject were to regain consciousness and escape, it's unlikely any of us would escape this complex alive. I need you to keep this knowledge always in the forefront of your minds, because the safety of everyone at this facility depends on your treating him with the utmost seriousness."

"And," She added, leaning over the control panel display "In the time since I've entered this room, his brainwave patterns and heart rate have altered. I'd suggest that whatever dosage you have him on you need to increase it – or try a different compound. In addition to being very aggressive, we know anecdotally that his species are incredibly resilient." She waited a few moments for them to digest this, before she turned to go. At the door she paused, one fingernail tapping impatiently against the doorframe "Just remember," She told their shocked, smooth faces "I need you to concentrate on the job please, not thinking up silly names."

* * *

After he parted company with the Professor and the medical chief, Rathbone's radio crackled and he made his way over to Island North. There was one more little matter that had arrived shortly after Iversson and her subjects that he needed to deal with.

He arrived in the hangar to find Jonas Haagens shivering between two of his enforcers.

His face froze in panic when he saw Rathbone "You!?"

"Ah, Mr Haagens." He said pleasantly "Nice to see you again."

"Your _staff_ wouldn't let me go home!" Haagens said in aggrieved tones.

"Well you have been through a very traumatic experience."

"Traumatic experience?! That thing was all set to cut my fucking head off!"

"Exactly why we wanted to bring you here for observation." The tone of Rathbone's voice Haagens started to shudder all over again, there was something about the Weyland security chief's eyes. They looked like something you normally saw looking up from underneath your boat on a dark night.

"Look I've done my part, now I just want – " Haagens stopped short and ran his hands distractedly through his hair "In fact, I don't even care about the money, I just want to get out of here and forget any of this ever happened!"

"Well I'm afraid I can't let you do that until one of our team has taken a look at you, Sir." Rathbone told him "We don't want you coming out of the woodwork with a lawsuit for emotional distress further down the line, now do we?"

"Oh yeah, like you haven't got enough shit on me to keep me quiet forever!"

"Nevertheless, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Rathbone escorted Haagens down the chilly corridors of North to the icebox that called itself an elevator and they began their long descent into the dark confines of the lower levels.

Rathbone sneaked a glance across at the bowed blonde head.

The truth was Haagens had been keen enough to take the money at first, when the likelihood of Woods ever being seen again had been just a hazy possibility. It was when things started to get real that he'd begun to get frightened and that's when it had become necessary to lean on him.

Rathbone had tapped Haagens' phone with his full consent and knowledge – just a little bit of extra insurance to make sure they saw a return on their investment – and that's how Weyland Corps had come to know that Woods had resurfaced. When she'd asked Haagens to come and meet her it had seemed too good an opportunity to miss so they'd made him go, although he hadn't wanted to. They'd also learned from him that she was specifically looking for Iversson so had taken the decision that the Professor should go too, in case they needed her to negotiate.

He had personally fitted Haagens with a wire and a tracking device. What followed had not been textbook. It had been a messy operation - the messiest - eight of his men had died, four were seriously injured. But at last they had struck pay dirt - they had bagged her! Had managed to bag all three of them.

Rathbone sighed, now he'd actually seen Woods with his own eyes he couldn't get her out of his thoughts. She was gorgeous, a real head turner, even worn down and miserable and dirty as she was. He'd actually felt a little jolt of electricity when he saw her. Rathbone was ex-CIA and in other respects he was pretty hardened but he'd always been a sucker for a stone-cold fox with a mean temper.

She'd made such an impression on him that his opinion of the former hacker had sunk even lower. He couldn't feel any sympathy for a man who'd sell out a woman like that. Rathbone felt no guilt or sense of hypocrisy that it was he himself who'd persuaded Haagens to do it. He had no prior allegiance to Woods - it had been just a job like always - but Haagens had been her friend. He should, thought Rathbone, have shown more loyalty.

He could even feel a tiny sneaking sympathy for the creature – the "exotic" as the science team insisted on calling him "He might be an alien from a totally different planet, but I know a fellow sucker when I see one." He thought, with a grim little smile "Poor bastard has a weakness for sexy, angry bitches. Hell, I can sympathise!"

* * *

Iversson hurried as quickly as she could back to the terminus and the rail car that would take her back to the relative comfort of Island South. She fervently hoped that she had managed to impress on them the gravity of the situation. The next forty eight hours were going to be crucial for the child; she really didn't want either of his parents to inadvertently get in the way of what she was trying to do for him.

Not for the first time she wished she was dealing with this situation via the unit. It wasn't her current team's expertise she doubted but sometimes she did worry about their level of commitment and seriousness. They acted like they'd snagged a post at some trendy new internet search provider rather than a team working to make scientific history, but they were the best she'd been able to find in the time available to her. Not for the first time she reflected that money couldn't buy you everything.

It had been different in her old job. Her operatives at the unit had mostly been older than those working under her now and service to your country was a vocation not a job. Most of her former colleagues had had the same burning sense of mission that gripped her and she often felt that this was lacking in the younger generation or at least those of them who worked for Weyland Corps. She had checked tentatively to see if any of the unit specialists were amenable to being hired but those she'd contacted had all been reassigned and they didn't want to give up their generous and secure government pensions.

"I would have been reassigned too if I'd just waited it out," She thought "The truth is I had my own reasons for wanting to leave." She frowned. It had not been an easy choice… but there were compensations.

"I would never have been granted the freedoms at the unit that I have been here at Weyland," She thought "Those small-minded bureaucrats at the Department would never have given us the funding to set up this complex. What a total lack of vision! They have no idea of the real value of things. Maybe if we'd had a facility like this we would never have lost Alexa and Selim in the first place, then that poor child would not have spent the first five years of his life enduring God only knows what…."

Even though she was alone on the car apart from the single operator – who had his back to her and never took any notice anyway – Iversson had to bite her lip hard to keep it from trembling. She was not accustomed to giving way to emotions publicly but the thought of any child being unloved or mistreated always threatened to bring her to tears. Especially this child; she'd thought about him so often over the years, this little boy (or girl, at the time she hadn't been sure) that she'd failed to rescue. This phantom baby had hovered at the edges of her mind. She'd wondered so many times how he was; whether he was healthy or happy; always she had seriously doubted it.

She admired his mother; whatever the woman might have done Iversson had always felt that Alexa was a strong and principled person. Coulter (there was a name from the past) had described her as cold – "the Ice Queen" – but Iversson did not believe in flaunting your feelings before the eyes of the world. She had always approved of Alexa's reserve, no matter how difficult it had made her own job. The people she'd killed Iversson rationalised thus: she'd done it for her baby. What mother could not understand that?

She had no doubt that Alexa would make a good mother... but how could any woman protect her child from such a father? It was he who had plagued her worst imaginings. Now she had seen him for herself she realised her nightmares had not done him justice; if there existed anywhere a less fit guardian to have power over a small infant she couldn't envision one. Even unconscious, every line of his body proclaimed his capacity for pitiless violence. To think of all this murderous strength so near to that little boy chilled her to the bone.

She alighted at the South terminus and clicked down the corridor towards the room where her most precious prize was currently also sedated, though for very different reasons. This room was also kept fiercely warm in deference to his alien nature. She felt her heart ache within her chest as she looked down at him.

"Already he's so much larger than a human child would be at his age." She thought "He can only be a few months away from being five years old, but he looks more like a child of eight or nine. I wonder if his mental development has kept up ..."

She held a hand to his forehead, bony and wrinkled with odd protrusions. His skin felt warm and moist, he was running a slight fever.

She turned to one of the two medical staff assigned to watch him "I think we could do with turning the temperature down just a touch." She said quietly and the woman hurried off to obey. Then she ran her hand down his face, over his cheek, the tip of one finger resting on the sharp point of one of his translucent white tusks. "You poor baby," She whispered "Does your head hurt? Don't worry. I'm going to make it all better."


	13. Chapter 13

When Jonas and Rathbone reached the bottom level, Danzig, one of the life science team was waiting to meet them. He was now wearing a thick coverall over his t-shirt and shorts in deference to the freezing temperatures.

"Here you are Doc," He told the dark haired scientist.

"What is this?" Haagens said startled "What's going on?"

"No need to worry, Mr Haagens." Danzig took his arm "Just follow me and we'll take you somewhere a little warmer."

They escorted him down the short corridor at the end of which there was a thick steel door. Danzig went through the security checks and after a few minutes the door swung open. Even at a few feet away, you could feel the heat radiating out of the room beyond the door.

As they stepped inside Haagens was starting to get really jittery now "What the fuck is going on, man?" His voice was shaking.

The chamber they had stepped into was another control room, much like the one on the next floor up where the exotic was being held but the viewing window that took up one whole wall looked onto a room beyond that was much bigger and darker. Unpleasant organic, shapes were dimly visible in the half-light.

"The thing is Mr Haagens, you've become a cause for concern." Danzig said, little dark eyes glinting oddly in his too-pale face "I'm afraid you have a little too much information about our various projects to have you wandering around loose. So I'm afraid we're going to have to take steps."

Haagens shrank back in terror "What are those things?"

As the scientist began to unlock the very heavy door, in the viewing panel the shapes began to move lazily, slithering over each other in the half dark.

They pulled the struggling Haagens closer and shoved him inside, Danzig slamming shut the door after him, there was the sound of several different locking mechanisms clicking into place.

"Can you take things from here doc?" Rathbone asked dispassionately.

"Yes, certainly." The younger man said absently, now utterly absorbed in what was happening in the room beyond the soundproof glass.

* * *

Lex woke up two days later. It took her a few moments to fully resurface and realise where she was. Then her memory came flooding back and she sat bolt upright in the bed, wrestling against the leather restraints. Professor Iversson and one of her staff stood watching her from a safe distance.

"Iversson!" She hissed "Let me out of here! Where's my _son_?"

"Please be calm," Iversson said "The operation was successful. Selim is doing well."

"I _don't_ believe you!" Lex said through gritted teeth "I need to see him! For God's sake, how long have I been unconscious?"

"Just forty eight hours, as I promised."

"Where is he? You take me to him now or I swear I'll –"

Iversson took a deep breath "Alexa, that's exactly what I have come here to do but you need to stop this." She said "Selim does need you, but if I'm to let you out of this room, you must be calm. Do you remember our agreement? You promised that if I helped your son there would be no more violence."

Lex stared at her for a long moment. Then she drew a deep, shuddering breath and her shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her. She knew Iversson held all the cards because she had absolute power over Selim's recovery.

"Alright." She said brokenly "Whatever you want. Just, please…"

Iversson's professional façade softened a little, her face seemed to register genuine sympathy.

"Alexa, there are some things I must tell you first. We were very lucky that Selim's tumour was both low grade and non-malignant. We were also incredibly fortunate that the growth was located in the cerebellum so we were able to entirely remove it… but there may still be side effects for a while. He may not recover right away, he'll need time. He's likely to feel very sick and weak – at least he will, at first. There might also be effects on his behaviour, speech or his ability to do certain things. He might require physical therapy and other help to get over it."

Lex nodded but she couldn't really imagine her clever, energetic, articulate little boy unable to move and speak properly, didn't want to. "But… Selim's so strong and so physical," She thought dully "He's always climbing and running and jumping!" She just couldn't picture him being confined to a hospital bed.

"Try to stay positive," Iversson said, quiet and calm "This operation was the best thing for him, you must know that. His recovery may take time but it's surely better than the alternative."

Lex nodded but she said nothing "Sure has her bedside manner down pat!" She thought bitterly.

As they escorted her down the corridor, she did her best to try and map the layout in her mind. This place seemed like something of a maze and she wanted to know where they were keeping her son. She noticed there were a couple of doors which required a pretty thorough security check in order to get through and filed this away for future reference too.

Finally they came to a door that looked exactly the same as all the other doors, but that was fifth along the corridor. She tried to commit it to memory. Two guards were stationed outside it.

She steeled herself as she entered the room, but nothing prepared her for his head; swaddled in bandages. His skin was pale and sweaty. His eyes were sunken into dark pits, almost as if he had two black eyes – as if the surgery had battered and bruised him like a prize fighter. He looked like a thin, frail child lying there on the pillow, so small, so vulnerable. Iron talons reached into her chest and wrung her heart, squashing it. Pulverising it.

"He's not awake." She said, her flat tones belying the chaos inside.

"No. He's still under sedation but it will wear off soon. I thought it would be best if you are with him when he wakes up." Iversson shot her a sideways look, seeing how she was taking it "I didn't want him to be frightened."

Lex walked forward as one in a dream. She reached out to touch Selim's face with trembling fingers and then took his hand.

"It's me sweetheart. Mommy." She cleared her throat, trying to keep her voice calm, cheerful "I've really missed you."

There was no response, only the sound of his little breaths as he slept, the occasional beeps of the monitoring devices. She sat there, keeping up a constant stream of talk though she barely knew what she was saying. Every moment she kept expecting that he would wake up and start talking to her, but he remained deeply asleep.

Sitting next to their sick child, she found herself thinking about his father, wondering where he was.

"Heaven knows he really doesn't do sympathy, but he's always been there when I needed him." She put her hand over her eyes "Where the hell have they taken that stupid Bonehead?"

* * *

Even with his eyes shut Selim could tell he was not at home on board the Chameleon. It was where he'd slept for the whole of his life so he could tell he wasn't there. Wherever this was, he could hear a constant noise like the wind in the treetops. It sounded like when the ship was in a forest and there was a storm happening but going on and on forever. He found it both weird and soothing. When he tried to open his eyes he then had to close them again. So much brightness! He couldn't tell if there was something the matter with his eyes or if he really was somewhere that white and bright. The place smelled strange, salty and like metal and oil.

The pain in his head kept coming and going and he thought he heard his mother's voice somewhere nearby, singing him a song that she had sung him often to get him to sleep but the words kept getting jumbled and confused in his mind. He couldn't make himself wake up properly. Sometimes he thought he felt his mother's hand – her soft, cool, human hand – holding onto his.

He never heard his father's voice, so he knew he must not be here. Selim wondered where he was. Normally when Selim was ill he would not go far away – where was he now?

If Selim had been properly awake he would have called out for his parents. Without them he was alone in this strange place with nobody to help him. When he heard his mother's voice he tried to move towards it, but he couldn't. A storm of evil darkness rose up to stop him, pushing down on his head.

He dreamed but did not remember.

* * *

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?"

Iversson looked into Lex's miserable, red-rimmed eyes, sighed and nodded to one of the guards "Just go see if someone can bring us some coffee," She said quietly "Would you please?" When the man's eyes flickered nervously over at the prisoner, she smiled and patted his arm "I'm sure we'll be fine with just two guards for five minutes."

When he'd gone, she said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone "You just have to be patient Alexa, Selim's been through major surgery, his body's taking the time it needs to recuperate. He'll wake up when he's ready."

It had been almost four days since Lex and Selim had arrived on Island South, almost thirty six hours since Selim came out of theatre. Iversson felt scarcely less worried but she knew she must not show it. This woman had proven in the past that she was capable of extraordinary violence when she felt she had nothing to lose, Iversson must not let her sink into despair. She needed her, the boy's recovery and well-being was dependent on his mother being present and in a tranquil frame of mind.

"I can't stand this." Lex's voice was low with exhaustion "Why couldn't it be me? Why couldn't I get sick, I swear I could handle that better than this!"

Iversson looked at her worriedly.

"Why can't you talk to me Professor?" She said miserably "I need a distraction. It's killing me sitting here hour after hour, not knowing if he…" She broke off, her voice tailing away miserably.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything! Tell me why you left your job with the government."

"Well," Iversson heaved a deep breath "When you broke out of the facility in Nevada, you know that you burned the place to the ground?"

"Well, I know I set the lab on fire." Lex said slowly "I didn't realise it would destroy the entire building." She grimaced as something occurred to her "I'm sorry about your car."

"I wasn't exactly happy about it at the time." Iversson frowned and shifted in her seat "Anyway you weren't acting alone, the exotic did his share of destruction. I believe he set off explosives. Between you, you did a pretty thorough job."

"We saw it; we did a sweep over Nevada trying to find you. It was deserted, a ruin."

"Yes," Iversson sniffed "That's why the department withdrew our funding, that and the fact we promised them the scientific find of the century but delivered a large number of fatalities and a huge damages bill. They shut us down pretty much the next day."

"Is that why you left the service?" Lex asked her "The unit closed and you got fired?"

"They didn't fire me," Iversson said curtly "I left. They had no vision."

"What does that mean?"

The Professor took a deep breath "I had to continue my work. There were things I wanted to do."

"What things? What work? What are you talking about?"

Iversson shifted in her seat, looking deeply uncomfortable "Alexa, that's something we should discuss…"

At that moment, Selim twitched and coughed. His lashes fluttered against each other like the wings of a butterfly in the sunshine. When they finally parted he blinked again in surprise as he focussed on his mother.

"Mommy?" He said in a croaky little voice.

Lex put her arms around him carefully "How do you feel sweetheart?"

Selim pouted, his voice sounding very babyish "My head still hurts."

"That will get better." Iversson said quietly "But we can get you painkillers for now Selim, if you're in pain."

Selim turned to look at the Professor, then back at Lex, his eyes lurid pools of yellow inside their dark hollows "Mommy," He said anxiously "Who is this human female?"

"That is Professor Iversson," Lex told him "She's been looking after you, to make your head feel better."

Selim shrank back a little against his mother. Then he said, his voice a tiny little whisper, "Where is my Father?"

* * *

" _I must be back on the Void Cutter."_ Scar thought woozily. All round him he could hear the hum of engines, the constant whirr of machinery made him think he must be on the yautja warship. He felt groggy and sick; perhaps it was the liquid intoxicant. He remembered that when he had consumed it he'd felt utterly nauseated for almost a whole day afterwards. _"But no, that cannot be right!"_ He realised _"That was a long time ago. It is years since I left the Rough Skulls…I must be on a different ship…"_

Suddenly an awful realisation struck him _"I cannot move!"_ His arms and legs would not respond, he couldn't even feel them. His hands and feet were numb. Try as he might he could not get his limbs to obey him.

He wondered if it was permanent. That thought caused an odd sensation in him, his skin suddenly felt cold and hot at the same time, the tingling of horror crept through his brain, the sharp sensation of panic in sickening contrast to the numbness in his body _"My spine must have been broken somehow… but when?! And how can it be that I do not remember?!"_ He thought desperately _"How … can this have happened!? I do not understand?!"_

He lay still, not having much option, and kept his eyes shut, not too difficult to achieve either as his eyelids felt like they had been glued together. He listened. There was no noise of any movement of other bodies in the room – wherever that was – so he concentrated on remembering, trying to gather together the jumbled puzzle pieces of his mind.

The memory came back to him of the argument with Lex and her shocking him with the bug zapper, but he knew that was not what had caused his current, crippled state because right after that he could remember… no… he had _definitely_ not been paralysed then. As he was unspooling the trail of recollection slowly in his mind, suddenly the memory of Selim's illness surfaced and it all came back in a rush _"How could I have forgotten?"_ He thought _"What is wrong with me? I cannot command my body, my thoughts are scattered… I have to stop being so_ _ **weak**_ _!"_

At that moment, he heard a noise; a door opening – someone was in the room with him. He couldn't move but now he was all alertness.

Footsteps now coming closer; it was just one individual and definitely a human male by the smell of it. At least the mask on his face – which he guessed was some way of delivering sedative when needed – left some of his scent ducts uncovered, so he could tell that much. Scar breathed in, trying not to make it obvious. Overlaying all was a tangy fug of sodium; he wasn't really sure what that meant. He had not spent much time near to the ocean. Mixed in with this salty miasma he could detect a note of some sort of engine oil and a synthetic odour that he guessed was probably one of the many unguents that humans seemed to habitually slather themselves in.

Lex never did it - even if she had been able to lay hands on such things she knew how disgusting he found it - but being amongst all those other humans in the city he'd felt he would asphyxiate on the perfumed stink of them.

He listened, trying to work out what the human was doing. It seemed to be standing next to him; he could feel its proximity. Then he heard the door open again, more footsteps. Another human male, this second one didn't smell quite so strongly of chemicals but there was another scent clinging to him that snagged at Scar's attention. It was just a tiny trace, a few atoms of fragrance, so faint that he could barely say with certainty that it was there. This scent triggered a response in the murky depths of his subconscious; it was familiar somehow. He was trying to place it when the human spoke, distracting him.

"Lloyd, did the lab get back to you with the genetic summary?" The second human said, the one standing further away.

"Not yet," Said the one standing right above him "Iversson's gonna be pissed, she _really_ wants to know if the Beast's DNA matches up to the kids."

" _Iverrrrrsssssson!"_ Scar's thoughts ran red with blood. This human scientist was becoming a fixation for him. That name inspired in him a wave of hatred so strong he felt the perspiration might evaporate off his skin _"Every time something awful happens in my life she is at the root of it! When I get out of here she will be first to know just how I deal with foolish little insects who think to hold me prisoner. Bitch goddess grant me vengeance! Let me get my_ _hands on her someday – if I am ever able to use my hands again!"_

The second human spoke once more, breaking into his imaginary torture chamber "Why the delay? It never took this long on Jerry Springer! What do those shitheads do all day?"

"Beats me man!" Came the weary reply "Briggs said cos the subjects aren't human they need to run more tests to be sure. All those guys do is bitch n' moan. They think they got it bad? They wanna try sweatin' it out down here. I swear I dropped – like – ten pounds this last three days."

Scar felt a little jolt of surprise at this _"Three days?"_ He thought _"Have I really been here that long?"_

He had to exercise absolute, iron self-control as the human called Lloyd came even closer, closer than he would ever have been allowed to get had Scar been mobile. He could not feel very much that was going on from the neck down but there was the tiniest little sting, he guessed because it had slid a needle into the vein on the inside of his arm. Of course, he couldn't move – if he had been able to he would have twisted this human's head off for presuming to touch him – but he forced himself not to react _at all_ , not even his jaws twitched.

"Careful!" Said the second human "I've been gradually reducing his morphia. Iversson wants him woken up today."

"Nah, he's still on the canvas," The one called Lloyd said "Look at the monitor dude, heart rate's on the level, brainwaves normal."

"Normal? How can you tell the difference? There's barely any reading! From what I can see there's not much activity going on in that big gruesome skull, when he's not doped to the eyeballs. He's probably got just about enough intelligence to kill something or fuck something – and I imagine it's luck of the draw which he chooses."

"Trust me Danzig, he's chillaxing."

"Trust you?" The second human laughed scornfully "You think I'm happy to put my life in the hands of someone who talks like a fucking mallrat?"

"You know he can't move anyway," Lloyd replied calmly "Not with these blockers Iversson put in his spine, nerve impulses can't get to the rest of his body so this mo'fo's gonna have to sit tight. He ain't goin' nowhere!"

Hope lit a tiny flickering flame in the dark subterranean cavern of Scar's heart _"So, they have done it deliberately and so p_ _erhaps it is not a permanent condition_ _!"_ He thought _"If I cannot move because she has put something in my spine perhaps it would be reversed if it is removed but … again it is this human Iversssson I have to thank for my current incapacity. It seems I am more indebted to her than I ever knew."_

Despite his loathing for the Professor, on one subject at least Scar would have been in total accord with her had he but known it. These two humans who had him at their mercy were morons, they did not sufficiently respect him or understand what he was capable of. There they were, inches away, blithely making jokes and talking about him as if he were no more aware than a lump of meat. They would both have blanched in terror if they could see what he was thinking.

" _Still,"_ He thought _"It is best they do not know. If they call me 'the Beast' that is all to the good! In fact, the more bestial and stupid they think I am, the better. It is the one slim advantage I currently possess. They obviously do not even realise that I am listening or that I can understand their speech, or they would not talk so in my hearing."_

The second human asked "Speaking of the boss lady, she seemed pretty testy earlier."

"Yeah man, she spent even more time busting my balls than usual!"

"She's sitting watch with the Beast's baby-mama up on Island South. The kid got out of surgery last night and you know Iversson..."

" _So Lex and Selim are here, also."_ Scar thought, boiling with frustration _"They have performed some kind of operation on my son and I am not able even to go and find out if he lived through it! Is Lex keeping vigil over him …or over his corpse tonight?"_

Lex.

 _"She sided with that treacherous little worm of a friend of hers against **me** – how could she be so stupid? So disloyal!" __He raged inwardly_ _"It is down to her and her precious friend that I am down here and Selim is … the bitch goddess only knows where Selim is!"_

He felt so angry it took quite some time before he was calm again. When he had regained mental balance his thoughts returned to his infernal female. Maybe she still hated him, he knew she was capable of bearing a grudge, but he told himself it made no difference _"Whether she wants me or not, whether she forgives me or not, she needs me. They both need me. Lex and Selim are mine. **M**_ _ **ine,**_ _If I could only move again…"_

He tried not to think about the possibility that even if he could remove these 'implants' still he might be paralysed, helpless... no. He refused to countenance it.

" _Sooner or later these idiots will make a mistake that allows me to get free."_ He told himself _"Then I will slaughter them like pigs and then get all three of us as far away from this hole as possible!"_

He thought that nothing could alarm or distress him any further but as he was digesting this information, the second human said "Lloyd! Did his hand just move? Are you sure those sensors are attached properly?"

"Come have a look, man!" Said Lloyd, who still stood nearby.

He heard footsteps as the second human, the one called Danzig, approached him. Then as the male came closer to where he lay suddenly the scent that had been faint and ghostly before hit him with all the power of a knife in his gut, a sharp acrid smell that clung to this other human. It evoked such a strong instinctive response in him that it was all he could do not to growl.

" _The hard meat…"_


	14. Chapter 14

Lex woke up muzzy and stiff in the chair next to Selim's bed when she heard someone say her name.

"Mmmmffh," She mumbled sleepily, then sat bolt upright in alarm when she saw Iversson standing there "What's wrong?"

"Shhhh, be calm – nothing is wrong." The Professor soothed "Selim is fine, look."

Lex turned to see him sleeping soundly "How long have I been here?" She groaned, rubbing her aching neck.

"About six hours," Iversson told her "I let you sleep, you looked as if you needed it. You were sitting up with him a long time."

"So what is it? Why did you wake me?"

Iversson sighed "I'm sorry to put this on you at such a time Alexa, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. My employer wishes to meet you."

Lex's eyes widened "Don't you think I've got more important things to worry about right now?!" She hissed, disbelieving, venomous.

Iversson looked very tired. There were pouches under her eyes and her face looked older and more lined than it had when she'd come to capture them only a few days before.

"Alexa, don't **you** think I know that?" She said "I understand how hard it is for you. I've held this off for as long as I can because I felt you needed time with your child. But it's now been made clear to me that I can't delay any more."

"Don't worry," She added as Lex glanced over at the sleeping boy "Selim will be fine, I've left instruction for my team to inform me the moment he wakes up."

As they walked down what seemed like miles of corridor, Lex started to feel anxious. Whilst she'd been totally focussed on Selim she'd forgotten all about the huge anonymous entity that was Weyland Corps; who'd moved heaven and earth to find her. They'd used bribery and blackmail and violence to get her where they wanted her and she still didn't even know why.

"What's going on here, Professor?" She said quietly, trying not to speak loud enough for the two lumbering guards to overhear "What the hell do they want from me?"

"Don't be worried Alexa," Iversson reassured her calmly "This is only a preliminary interview. I think she just wants to talk to you, initially at least."

They had reached large, imposing doors at the end of a long walkway. Lex turned slightly to look at the Professor, one black eyebrow arched " _She?_ "

They now entered a room more impressive than any she could imagine being contained on this floating fortress. One whole wall was thick glass, giving a breath-taking view across the ocean. The sun was just sinking behind the remains of a dissipating storm, shafts of golden light threaded through an iron grey lattice of cloud. Lex blinked in the glare.

A small figure got up from behind a desk upon which a slender laptop was sitting open, the white glow a pale counterpart to the blazing gilt of the setting sun.

Lex studied her as she walked towards them effortlessly on towering heels. Small – without the high heels she was barely 5 foot tall, her petite frame wrapped in a streamlined designer suit.

Her skin had an impossible flawless whiteness. Like porcelain. Like snow. It was in stark contrast to the inky black hair, cut short and artfully feathered. The face it surrounded was striking; heart shaped, delicate and dominated by a pair of enormous china blue eyes framed by ebony spikes. Her mouth was a little blood red cupid's bow. The whole effect was slightly unearthly, childlike.

She was a live doll, so tiny and delicate that it was hard to believe that she could be fully adult. When she got closer, the faint lines around her mouth and eyes became visible, almost imperceptible.

There were other things too – the razor sharp chic of the dress she wore, the assured gaze, the set of her shoulders – all of which stated clearly that she couldn't possibly be as young as her dainty features and diminutive build made her seem. This woman must be at least in her late thirties. Maybe even her well preserved forties or fifties, it was impossible to tell.

Lex stifled a yawn. She was tired, she was grimy; she was still in the cheap, blood-stained vest and cargo pants she'd been wearing when this woman's staff had taken her prisoner. Years ago, before Antarctica, she might have felt at a disadvantage here. She might have felt self-conscious standing next to such an elegant woman dressed as she was.

Now, even if she hadn't much more important things on her mind, such matters were beneath her notice anyway. Yautja never cared how they looked. There was no room for insecurities when you were fighting for your life. She had never even seen a mirror on board the Shadow or the Cutter.

Now she met the other woman's gaze with absolute confidence, a confidence that was laced with contempt. For all her apparent self-assurance this woman clearly was not comfortable talking to her without protection. Aside from the security guards who had come in with her and Iversson, she'd also clocked another man – tall, lean and besuited – standing by the wall. He managed to suggest just by his stance that he was ready for trouble.

If the other woman noticed her disdain, she didn't show it "Alexa Woods?" She said briskly, extending her hand "Diana Weyland. Glad to meet you at last."

Lex took her hand without enthusiasm but Diana Weyland seemed not to notice.

"I suppose you're wondering why I've brought you here?" She said in an accent that was pure moneyed New York "Lex, you don't mind if I call you Lex?"

Lex shrugged.

Diana Weyland's scarlet lips curved into a slight smile. "I've been waiting a long time to talk to you."

"Your father was Charles Weyland?"

"Hard to believe I know. I more resemble my mother." She gave a slight shrug " _But_ I was his only child. He left all his shares to me …and so the controlling interest in this company."

"Lucky you. So what _do_ you want from me?"

"My father hired you to get him through the Antarctica expedition alive, but things didn't work out did they?"

"I'd say it wasn't my fault," Lex said wearily "But it'd be wasted breath, wouldn't it? You just want somewhere to lay the blame."

"Not at all." Diana Weyland shook her head slightly "Perhaps I once felt something like that but now…"

Lex's eyes narrowed, waiting for her to go on.

"Well, you knew my father didn't you?"

"That's an exaggeration," Lex thought for a moment, summoned up the shade of Charles Weyland "I only spent a few days in his company but as far as I knew him I liked him."

"He hired you personally, didn't he?"

"Yes he did."

"He always had a… partiality for strong women, as evidenced by my mother." Diana Weyland sat down in the chair opposite, crossing her legs "But I'm forgetting myself. Please, sit." She said, then gesturing to the Professor "Jeanette. Please."

She turned to the two guards still standing just next to the door "You two leave us. Wait outside." She said dismissively "Have someone to send up tea."

Lex watched her, already feeling a creeping dislike for this woman. Her ostensibly friendly behaviour felt superficial – just on the surface. How could they be friendly when they were all being held prisoner here on her orders? True Iversson had helped Selim, but she didn't know what they were doing to Scar. Or what they had planned for her.

She also noted that Weyland hadn't told the suit to leave. Obviously she was still not as relaxed about being left alone with Lex as she was striving to appear.

"Now," Diana said when the two guards had gone "We won't be interrupted."

"Is there something particular you wanted to know Ms Weyland or are we just having a little chit-chat?" Lex asked pointedly "Because my son has just gone through major surgery so I'd rather not be away from him any longer than necessary."

"Straight to the point, hmmm?" Diana's pale brow wrinkled a little, a gentle breeze ruffling a moonlit pond "Well, I was coming to that. As I was saying, at first I was angry with you Lex – you _were_ the one who was supposed to bring everyone back safe – but at the time I thought you were dead. I spent quite a lot of time and money trying to find out what happened, but of course there was no one left alive who could tell me. Or so I thought."

"Then I crossed paths with Jeanette here," She indicated the Professor with a wave of her perfect manicure "She told me about your escape from Nevada andyour… delicate condition. I must admit; when I first heard that you'd been alive all this time, I _was_ angry. I kept thinking – of that whole party – why should you have been allowed to survive?"

"It wasn't the easy option." Lex said, stone-faced.

"I would like some answers though. I think it's the least you owe me."

"Owe you?"

"Come on Lex," Diana raised an eyebrow "It's been six years of wondering. What really happened out there on the ice? I just want to know how my father died."

Lex paused.

"Of course I know how Charles Weyland died; Scar killed him, skewered him with the dah'kte right before my eyes."

In Scar's defence, his logic had been pretty hard to dispute _"He used a flamethrower on me Lex!"_ He'd said in exasperation when she'd thrown it up to him once _"I showed him mercy, I walked away and he shot me in the back! What should I have done – let him have another try at burning me alive?"_

" _He was a sick, old man!"_ She'd said, but it sounded weak even to her own ears. Of course it would have been stupid of him to do anything else. As far as he was concerned Charles Weyland was just an enemy. He had been on a hunt, when life or death might hang on a split second decision. Weyland had been stupid to attack him when the hunter was intending to let him live.

" _He wanted death!"_ Scar had said to her, strangely she thought now that perhaps he had said this to make her feel better _"And you are right that he was sick Lex. Very sick. I saw it through the mask; his lungs were eaten away by terrible corruption. That was why I let him go. He attacked me, knowing I would kill him. He wanted me to do it. He welcomed it."_

No, the death of Charles Weyland had not weighed lightly on her conscience. Of course it wasn't she who had killed him and she couldn't have done anything to prevent his death but she had compromised her own moral code to justify Scar's actions. That was almost as bad – perhaps it was worse. The terrible thing was that though she wanted to disagree with Scar's violent outlook on life, the older she got the more she suspected that he was right.

Now, looking into the unfathomable eyes of Charles Weyland's daughter, Lex knew absolutely that she must **not** tell her the truth about what had really happened to him. Whatever guilt she felt about his death, she felt absolutely no guilt whatsoever in lying about it to protect Scar. Presumably he was being held here somewhere – in this woman's power – and she certainly owed him loyalty before their captor. Who knew what Weyland would do to him if she knew…

"Things spiralled out of control so fast, I didn't see what happened." She said firmly.

"Oh come on Lex," Diana's lips twisted "Even if you didn't see for yourself, can't you ask your alien _friend_? Surely he knows!"

Lex shrugged, reluctant to give them any more information than she had to "He doesn't talk. I do know your father wasn't a well man. He had lung cancer, pretty advanced. To be honest, I was surprised he made it to the island at all." At least that was truthful, she _had_ been surprised. He'd been coughing up blood before they even left the boat.

If this news was a shock to Diana she didn't show it "Don't be ridiculous, my father wasn't sick." She even gave a slight laugh as she said this "He was in perfect physical health when I last saw him!"

Lex looked at her incredulously "I'm sorry to break it to you but he was seriously ill, I tried to persuade him not to come on the expedition but he wouldn't listen to me."

"How could you know something like that after only spending a few days with him?"

"He told me." Lex shrugged again – that was also true, whatever Diana might believe "But even before that I heard him coughing his lungs out and I had my suspicions. Maybe it was easier to tell someone he barely knew than his family."

"You mean easier to give a sob story to an attractive woman he was trying to sweet talk into bed!" Diana said, her composure not wavering, a slight smile still on her lips "Are you sure he wasn't just trying to make you feel sorry for him? My father had a ….weakness where women were concerned."

"Well that doesn't paint a very flattering picture of your Daddy, now does it Ms Weyland? Making up a story about terminal cancer just to seduce me?"

Diana sniffed "My father had many fine qualities but restraint around the opposite sex was not amongst them." She said "His philandering was legendary. It was the reason my mother divorced him."

Lex said nothing, watching her warily. She couldn't warm to this woman but she had to admit she had poise. Even the news of her father's illness didn't seem to have disturbed her, or if it had she concealed it well.

At that moment one of the staff came in with tea and Diana Weyland seemed to feel a change of subject was called for.

"Well," She said, smoothing her skirt over her legs as the minion retreated "Let's not get hung up on the past shall we? Not when we're just getting to know one another. You ought to know, I admire you. You could say over the years I've been rather fascinated to meet you."

"Really." Lex said flatly.

"Yes, you are a formidable woman. I used to feel somewhat angry with you," Diana waved her delicate hand again, as if it was all too tiresome for words "But Jeanette made me see the bigger picture and that you were part of it, you and the evolution of the species. Or at least the evolution of the Company."

Lex frowned "What has that got to do with me?"

"I need you Lex." Weyland answered smoothly "You could say we need each other. It wasn't easy persuading our shareholders that I could do as good a job as my father. I think they all saw me as just Daddy's little girl, but with the Professor here and now your contribution I've managed to win them round. I suppose you'd know all about that wouldn't you? How difficult it is sometimes to hold your own as a woman in a male environment." She gave Lex a conspiratorial little smile.

Lex turned to look at Iversson who, to her credit, looked very uncomfortable, then she leaned over the table "Listen Ms Weyland," She said "I'm very tired; as I already told you my son is just getting over a major operation."

"Yes, I know," Diana made a little face and sipped her tea "I paid for it."

Lex pushed her hair back from her face and stood up. She'd had enough of this "And I'm very grateful, but he still needs me. So I'm sorry I can't give you the information you want, but I have to go back to him now."

"Lex, that's not the only reason I asked you up here."

"I don't care."

"You mean you don't _know_ ," Diana said. Lex could see a sparkle in her eyes although the rest of her face remained immobile "I'm surprised the Professor hasn't told you already."

"Told me what?" Lex snapped, her tolerance for these mind games reaching its end.

"Jeanette's been much too modest, haven't you Jeanette?" Diana looked over at Iversson with the smallest hint of a spiteful smile "You mean you really haven't said anything to her yet?"

Even the red light of the setting sun couldn't disguise the colour draining out of Professor Iversson's face. Lex stared at her "What is it? What haven't you told me?"

"Alexa," Iversson said rapidly "I was trying to find the right moment, but you've been through such a difficult time I didn't feel I could – "

"What is it?" Lex hissed at her "Is it Scar? Where is he?"

"The exotic?" Iversson spread her hands, trying to calm the situation "He's very heavily sedated. You don't need to worry about him."

"Then what!?" Lex almost shouted at her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Diana Weyland watching her with an air of feline amusement. The suit was suddenly more alert, had even moved slightly towards her.

"Alexa," Professor Iversson took a deep breath "There's no easy way to tell you this but – "

"Jeanette," Diana stood up "We can't just tell her, we have to show her."


	15. Chapter 15

Lex stalked the corridors of Island South, an enraged tiger trailed by sheep. Iversson just about managed to keep pace with her; the Professor was tall and had long legs. Meanwhile, Diana Weyland had to almost run to keep up, hurrying along in her towering stilettos. The soldiers or mercs or whatever they were followed behind.

"Alexa," Iversson said "I just want to remind you that you must keep calm. Selim needs you."  
"So you keep saying," Lex said through gritted teeth "I think you'd better just show me what it is you think I ought to be calm about and let me judge for myself!"

"Alright," The Professor stopped next to a door not too far away from the suite they had been using as Selim's sickroom "Just promise me, no yelling or hysterics. I don't want him …upset."  
Lex steeled herself as the Professor swiped her ID card and went through the whole security rigmarole. At her elbow she could sense Diana Weyland watching. She wasn't smirking openly but Lex could sense that she was very much enjoying the whole situation – after all, it was she who had engineered it. Her dislike of the woman ratcheted up several notches.

The door swung open and they stepped forward into a room that looked like a child's playroom… quite an unruly child's playroom at that. Toys and clothes littered the floor, battered toys that had clearly seen a lot of active service. Part of the wall and floor was a soft padded surface, scored and ripped in several places. It was quite a bright sunny room. One whole wall was a window just like in Diana Weyland's office and off to one side she could see a doorway that led into what looked very much like a small, but also very untidy, bedroom.

Lex looked around, puzzled. Just what was she meant to be seeing here? Had they prepared this room for Selim all along? Was she meant to be frightened? Or impressed that they were so confident that she and Selim would one day be their prisoners? But then…. why the hell was the place such a mess?

Just then she heard a voice coming from the adjoining room – what looked like a bedroom – an exasperated male voice. She could tell that the owner of the voice was obviously trying to restrain his temper in the face of extreme provocation "Come on kid, quit throwing yourself around!"

Then another voice – childish, high pitched and familiar – raised in indignation "You can't tell me what to do! Where's my Mom? Where is she?!"

She watched in disbelief as Selim burst out from inside the bedroom in a state of extreme agitation "Leave me alone!" He yelled "I wanna play! I don't wanna stay in there and you can't make me!"

A large man in a black uniform came out of the bedroom, striding after him. Lex was puzzled that her son didn't even seem to notice she was in the room, despite his saying he wanted her.

"Goddammit kid!" The man spat angrily "Simmer down and stop making such a racket!"

"You can't speak like that to me!" Selim howled. He was completely beside himself now, fully in the grip of a world-beating tantrum "You can't tell me what to do! Nobody tells me what to do!" He began to snatch up things from the floor and hurl them at the man one after the other as hard as he could. When the man approached and grab at the flailing arms he gave a scream of rage and lashed out furiously. He caught the man across the cheek with a fistful of claws leaving bright red slashes across his skin.

"Let me go!" He bawled "I want my Mother – where is she? **Where is she?!** "

Lex was stunned. She had never seen Selim behave this way before. Even when he was very young he had never acted like this. And he didn't even seem to notice her standing there. But then again, maybe this change in his temperament was a result of his illness and the treatment he was going through.

"She's not your mother kid," The man said harshly "You know that!"

"I **hate you**!" Selim fought to get away as the man got a stronger grip on him, struggling like one possessed by demons.

Lex's jaw set hard, enough was enough. . Much as she was relieved to see him up and about so soon she was worried that this man might injure him… or that he might injure himself. She stepped forward "You take your hands off him!" She said sharply.

Selim and the man both turned to look at her in surprise. Her son just stared at her. The man looked at her for a moment and then his gaze slid past her to Iversson who was standing by the door. "Do as she says Farrell." Iversson told him, then to Selim she said softly "It's alright now."

Lex crouched down on the floor and held out her hands to her son "Selim?" She said "Why don't you calm down sweetheart? You don't want to hurt yourself."

Selim was now looking at her in astonishment. He stood up, temper tantrum forgotten, and approached her cautiously. She knelt, waiting for him to come to her. He was obviously confused – and he'd been ill. She didn't want to startle him or upset him.

As he came nearer she was reminded very strongly of his father. Those vivid eyes were still glowing from his outburst in the way that Scar's did when he was very angry or in the grip of some other extreme emotion. The vessels in them were swollen with luminous blood. With a stab of worry she noticed that somehow the way he moved was different from before. She wondered if this was a result of the operation too.

She waited, but he didn't fling himself into her arms as he usually did. He edged around her warily until he got past her to where Iversson stood by the door. Then to her utter bewilderment he went right up to Iversson and clutched hold of the other woman's leg. The Professor knelt down next to him, put an arm around his shoulders and smoothed his brow "There now," She said gently "There wasn't really any need for all that fuss was there?"

Selim was still watching Lex, his brow knotted up suspiciously. Then he looked up at Iversson "Mom," He asked "Who is this lady?"

"Her name is Alexa," Iversson told him "She's come to visit you."

"Why is she calling me that weird name?"

"Because she's got a little boy just like you," Said the Professor "And that's _his_ name."

The child's eyes lit up with sudden interest at this news and he took a hesitant step towards Lex "Is that true?" He asked " _ **Do**_ you have a boy just like me?"

Lex stared at them them both, stupefied – trying to make sense of a world gone mad. Was what Iversson said true? This wasn't Selim? "But he looks just like him! It must be him!"

Her mind raced, working overtime, tripping over itself "Have they done something to him? Brainwashed him so he doesn't remember me?" Her mind reeled as she tried to get her bearings "But that's not possible," She realised "I only saw him a short while ago and he remembered me then…"

Now it was beginning to dawn on her… there were discrepancies. His speech was different; it lacked the very faint accent and odd intonation that Selim had when speaking English, picked up from his father. This child sounded like an all-American little boy. He moved differently and he behaved differently too. Lex had never seen Selim have a meltdown like the one she had just witnessed, it was not really in his nature.

Also, more tellingly, the boy she'd left sleeping just under an hour ago had darkly shadowed eyes and his head had been swathed in bandages, under which was undoubtedly a large surgical scar covered in stitches. This child had obviously not been through a major operation anytime recently.

"But then where in the name of God did he come from?" Lex thought desperately. She felt like she was going insane.

Suddenly she realised the other Selim – she didn't know how else to think of him – was still looking at her, waiting for an answer to his question. With a superhuman effort she pulled herself together, not wanting to upset him "Whoever this boy is," She thought "He's still only a child and none of this is his fault."

"Yes, that's right." She said, making herself smile at him "I do have a little boy like you, he's my son. What is your name?"

"Isaac." The child told her "What's your little boy called?"

"Selim." Lex bit her lip "He really does look just like you. So much that for a moment I… got confused and I thought you were him." Her eyes flashed up to Professor Iversson, who was watching her tensely.

"Oh." The boy looked at his feet for a moment, considering "Where is he?"

"He's just down the hall." Lex saw him immediately look round to the door "But he's asleep at the moment. He's been ill, but now he's getting better."

"Can I go see him when he wakes up?" Isaac asked "Mom – I mean, the Professor told me that nobody's like me, that I'm special. Cos of my NDA."  
"DNA Isaac." Iversson corrected him.

Isaac nodded impatiently, but then his gaze returned to Lex. Clearly the idea of another boy the same as he was intrigued him far more than a lesson in genetics.

"Well I can see she's right, you are very special." Lex said "But my son is very much like you."

" _Can_ I go see him Mom?" He said to the Professor.

"When he's feeling a better Isaac," Iversson told him "But right now he's asleep and you should be too. I need to speak to Alexa so you go to bed like a good boy and in the morning, maybe you can see him if he's feeling up to it."

"Alright."

Isaac's face creased up in a little frown again and he pouted slightly but he let Iversson lead him placidly back into the adjoining room and a few minutes later she came out.

"I think we're long overdue for a little talk Professor, don't you?" Hissed Lex.

Iversson grimaced "Not here."

* * *

As soon as they were down the corridor in the plush confines of Iversson's office, Lex exploded "Just what the hell is going on!" She demanded "He is exactly like my son – _exactly_ – so can you please just tell me what the fuck you've been doing? Where did he come from?"

Diana Weyland and at Professor Iversson stood watching her, Iversson looking miserable, Weyland inscrutable.

"Can't you guess Lex?" Weyland shifted her weight slightly as she leaned on Iversson's desk.

"I don't want to guess!" She yelled "I want you to cut the bullshit and just tell me!"

The bodyguards started forward, looking as if they might be about to tackle her to floor.

"Oh get out!" The Professor snapped at them suddenly, her usual composure cracking at last "Go and stand outside!"

Iversson pressed a hand to her mouth and screwed her eyes shut for a moment as they left, then turned and looked Lex in the eye "He's a clone." She said heavily "Isaac. That's what he is. That's why he and Selim look identical; because – genetically speaking – they _are._ I created him using a sample of Selim's DNA that we took from him whilst he was in utero."

Lex stared at her in horror "But that's _insane_!" She said "Why would you do that? Why would _anybody do that_?"

"Scientifically speaking, it was just too good an opportunity to miss. When you escaped you took Selim with you and any chance we had of studying this alien life form at close quarters disappeared overnight. Although I suspected you'd be back someday, I didn't want to pass up the chance of a lifetime if you weren't – this was the next best thing."

"That was why you left, wasn't it?" Lex whispered "You needed someone just as unscrupulous as you are to bankroll your crazy experiment so you left government service and hooked up with _her!"_ She indicated Weyland with a trembling finger.

"Well I don't agree with your characterization," Iversson drew herself up, impressively dignified "But yes, I had the samples in cold storage when we got the news that we were being closed down. I knew those idiots at the Department would never have sanctioned something like this. They couldn't see the huge potential scientific gains it represented, only the potential for bad publicity if it ever got out, but I could. I stole the samples. I'm not proud of it but I did it for the furtherance of human knowledge. I knew Weyland Corps might have an interesting perspective on things given the history, so I went to Diana with my proposal."

"And you were right to do so," Weyland interjected smoothly "In private enterprise one is always so much more free to be creative than in public service – that's why we're able to get results. In less than five years we've made such huge strides we're light years ahead of everyone else in several fields. Just the by-products of your work alone have been hugely beneficial to this company."

"I'm very happy for you." Lex said bitterly "But that's a child in there, not a product."

Weyland sighed "Don't be so tediously melodramatic. Isaac has a pleasant enough existence, he wants for nothing."

"Oh yeah, he seems really content." Lex snarled "Not at all confused or distressed. That's why he thinks _you're_ his mother!" This last was directed at Iversson "Is that what you told him?"

"Children need some kind of maternal figure to focus on for love and affection." Iversson said firmly "It's only natural that he should want to attach himself to me, I'm the one he sees the most. I haven't lied to him about it. It's close enough to the truth – I did create him, after all."

"Your version of the truth is a pretty twisted up version, what about when he grows up? How much of the truth are you going to tell him then? Have you even thought what you're going to do with him? He's getting bigger every day – by the time he's a teenager - "

"Well this has all been very interesting," Weyland put in, as if the whole conversation bored her "But I have things to be getting on with so I think I'll leave you ladies to it. I imagine you have plenty to talk about."

She got up, crossed to the door and let it swing shut on their outraged faces. They heard her heels on the floor echoing like gunshots, receding down the corridor.

Both women were silent for a moment, then Iversson turned to Lex with a pleading look on her face "Alexa, try to understand," She said "I did want to tell you. I just felt you'd been through so much already…having a seriously ill child is so hard on any mother!"

Lex sat down in one of the armchairs in front of Iversson's desk and put her head in her hands for a moment.

"Professor I don't think there's any time or any way you could have told me that it wouldn't have been a serious mindfuck."

"Perhaps you're right." Iversson conceded.

They sat in silence for a moment and then Lex looked up at her "That Diana Weyland is a real piece of work."

The older woman said nothing. Lex ran a hand through her hair and drew a deep sigh.

"She's not much like her father;" She said "I liked him."

Iversson stiffened "Diana has been a very generous benefactress. Without her, none of my achievements here would have been possible."

Well you'll forgive me if I don't share your enthusiasm." Lex said sarcastically. She thought for a minute then she said with a little frown "I thought human cloning was illegal…"

"Well technically yes, but I imagine it's a moot point here. Neither Selim nor Isaac are fully human and given that Isaac is already in existence, what serious action could be taken? Probably there'd be ways around it."

"And I'm sure she would be just the one to find those ways, right?"

Iversson said nothing. Silence descended once more.

"So… Isaac?" Lex said finally "Is that some kind of biblical reference?"

Iversson looked at her sharply "What?"

"Because if it is, it's not very well-omened."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." Iversson looked confused.

"Don't you know the Old Testament?" Lex raised an eyebrow "My parents made me go to Bible studies every Sunday, well… every Sunday we were somewhere they had a class. It kind of stuck in my mind; the brothers, Isaac and Ishmael.. half brothers anyway; _that's_ one story nobody comes out of all that well."

"No, that wasn't where it came from." Iversson said "Isaac was my son's name."

Lex started in surprise "You have a son?"

"He was around the age Selim is now."

"Was?"

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

"He died."Iversson said tonelessy. Lex stared at her.

The Professor opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped, pressing her lips together as if she was trying to hold the words in. Her mouth quivered for a moment then finally she said quietly "It's just the worst thing in the world, to watch your baby suffer and be powerless to stop it."

* * *

Lex was deep in thought as the Suit from Weyland's office and two other guards escorted her back to her cell. Iversson evidently had some other pressing business to attend to but Lex knew she'd be back to resume her watch on Selim as soon as possible.

"So you didn't know?" She resurfaced from her thoughts. The Suit was talking to her she realised "Excuse me?"

"You didn't know about the other kid?" He said "Musta been a shock."

"Look at you," She said coolly "Pretending like you give a damn."

"Just asking Ma'am."

"And of course whatever I tell you, it'll make interesting listening when you report back to your employer."

"No, I was just wondering if you were ok."

"How considerate. You needn't bother. It's none of your business."

"Don't like it when someone offers you sympathy, do ya?"

"Is that what this is, sympathy? Feels like something else to me."

"Well now, what's that quotation?" He smiled lazily "'To the pure in heart all things are pure'."

She regarded him sidelong now orange in the last flare of the dying sunlight. He was tall and very lean. She supposed he was attractive in a dark, ascetic way.

"Well then, I suppose I must be impure," She raised an eyebrow "Either that or you're a slimeball."

His own smile broadened into a grin "Hey, who says it ain't both!"

She was grateful to see that they were now at the door to Selim's room and after he'd gone she sat down at her son's bedside, tapping a fingernail on her teeth thoughtfully.

Something about this man sparked a memory, not a welcome one. She had to think before putting her finger on it – Coulter, that's who she was reminded of. Not his looks, just the way he carried himself. The realisation did not make her feel friendly towards him.

On the other hand he was clearly attracted to her. She realised this without feeling a shred of ego, with a detachment that came from living outside humanity for a long time. She was neither flattered nor repulsed. Only one thought filled her mind _"How can I use this to my advantage?"_


	16. Chapter 16

Later that night, Selim woke up and suddenly saw yellow eyes like his own, staring down at him. At first he thought it was his Father but then he realised it must be a mirror, as the face he could see looked like his own reflection. At least so he guessed from the few times he had seen himself in polished metal surfaces or still water.

He blinked, but his reflection did not blink "That is strange." His brow creased up in a frown but his reflection did not frown either. Instead the other Selim grinned, his sharp white teeth glinting in the moonlight streaming through the window.

Selim looked over to where his mother had been sitting. Now her chair was empty. He wondered when she would be coming back, this was… not frightening exactly, just confusing.

"Hello?" He whispered finally, curiosity getting the better of him.

"You woke up!" The other him said gleefully "I was hoping you'd wake up soon!"

"You are not my reflection are you?" Selim asked, puzzled.

The other Selim laughed "Of course not dumbass!" He sniggered.

Selim was stung by this. Although he didn't exactly know what it meant, he guessed it was not complimentary "Well, who are you then?" He said angrily.

"I'm Isaac," The other boy said "You're Selim, aren't you?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Your Mom told me, when she came to visit me earlier," Isaac said, then his face warped into an even more evil grin "They said I couldn't come and see you yet but I wanted to come and see you right away. Farrell thinks I'm asleep."

"Who is Farrell? And when did my Mother come to see you?" There were so many other questions Selim wanted to ask he couldn't get them all out at once,

"Farrell's a dumbass too!" Isaac said with a roll of his eyes "He thinks he can lock me in my room, but he doesn't know I can escape whenever I want to!"

"Wow!" Selim's eyes widened at the thought of this defiance "How did you get out?"

"Climbed through the vent shaft," Isaac looked very pleased with his own cleverness "I'm good at climbing."

Selim grinned back but then a thought occurred to him "Will you not get into trouble?" He knew that whenever he had unwisely gone wandering off without permission there had been hell to pay when he was finally found.

"He can't do anything to me!" Isaac said confidently "Iversson wouldn't let him. Sometimes when he calls me a little brat, I tell her and then _he_ gets into trouble!"

Selim was slightly puzzled by this "So is Farrell … your father?"

"Pfhuh! _No!_ " Isaac made a disgusted noise "He's just my minder! I hate him. He's always telling lies! Always trying to tell me what to do!"

Selim was curious, this whole set up sounded very strange to him, very different to what he was used to "So where is your father then? Do you not have parents?"

Isaac looked at him oddly "You sure ask a lot of stupid questions!"

"You give a lot of **stupid** answers!" Selim said hotly.

" _Professor Iversson_ is my mother!" Said Isaac as if Selim should have known this. "Farrell tries to tell me she isn't – but I know she is!"

"Then why would he tell you that she is not?"

Isaac raised his voice in exasperation "Don't you listen to anything? Because he's a _dumbass!_ "

Being taunted by someone the same age as himself was a new experience for Selim. Usually the peacemaker between two hot-headed parents he suddenly felt his own temper flare up, sharp and fierce

" _Stop using that stupid word!"_ He snarled, shifting reflexively into yautja, the language of combat.

This seemed to take Isaac momentarily aback, he sat in stunned silence for a few beats staring at him "What was that?!" He breathed finally.

"What was what?" Selim asked, not understanding.

"That noise you made!" Isaac said incredulously "Do it again!"

Selim repeated himself and Isaac's jaw dropped open "That was amazing!" He whispered "What is it?"

"It is my father's language." Selim said, puzzled by his reaction "Yautja. My mother can speak it too but his species, I mean – that is their speech."

"What's a species?"

"Something like a family." Selim wasn't actually sure, but he had heard his parents use this term.

"Say some more words!"

" _What is it you wish me to say?"_ Selim asked him.

"Hahaha!" Isaac rolled backwards on the bed delightedly "You sound like a lion eating a beetle!"

Selim started laughing himself.

"Do you know any swear words?"

"Oh yes, I know many." Selim said airily, not really sure what the boy meant by this.

Isaac grinned at him "Can you teach me?"

* * *

Three days later Professor Iversson was surprised when Diana Weyland entered her office in the early evening. In her usual manner she seated herself in a chair before Iversson had a chance to invite her to do so.

There were many trials in the course of the Professor's working life and dealing with her patron was – she had to admit – one of the less agreeable ones. She always tried to maintain friendly relations with Weyland but unfortunately she was inclined to agree with Lex, though she would never have admitted it. There was something about the woman that set her teeth on edge.

"So Jeanette how do you think yesterday went?" The CEO brushed an imaginary speck off her immaculate lapel "I thought Woods seemed to get on with the boy quite well."

"Considering what a shock it must have been to find out that way, I suppose she did," Iversson said "I was just relieved it didn't backfire spectacularly. This has already been an extremely stressful situation for her. I did explain to you how she can react under stress…."

"Jeanette, is that reproach I hear in your voice?" Diana said "It had to come out sometime and she has a pretty good reason for keeping her cool. You did save her son's life, after all and you're continuing to treat him while he recovers. In any case, you couldn't keep something like that secret from her forever."

"I wasn't planning on keeping it secret forever, just long enough to let her get onto an even keel while Selim stabilises."

"Well, it's done now." Diana said "I'm sure she'll get used to the idea, she seems to have a knack of getting along wherever she finds herself."

"If you say so."

"What I really wanted to talk to you about is our other guest over on Island North. I had a little chat with Danzig earlier. He tells me that the exotic has been awake for nearly forty-eight hours and he still hasn't said a word anyone can understand."

"With respect Ma'am," Iversson drew a deep breath "Forty-eight hours isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things. He's an extra-terrestrial from a warlike and violent culture that treats human beings as prey. Now we're holding him prisoner; do you really expect him to be chatty?"

"Come now Jeanette, that's not the whole story and you know it." Weyland gave her an old fashioned look "Remember, Woods has been gone for nearly six years. I think we can assume most of that time she's been with him. They've got a child together – are you seriously telling me all that time they've been communicating by just guesswork and pointing? He can speak, I'm sure of it."

"Ma'am **she** speaks **their** language, I've heard her do it." Iversson protested "And I'm not even sure just what their relationship is."

"Quite frankly it doesn't bear thinking about." Her employer closed her eyes with a refined little shudder "I don't care about that. I just want him to talk so he can tell us how his invisibility device works. We've got it in the lab upstairs and they can't seem to tell me how it functions. I have a spaceship sat on the upper deck of Island North that we can't even see and nobody can work out how to make it visible again. Can you imagine the logistics of transporting that here in secret?"

"Well I would have thought its being invisible would have made that easier." Iversson pointed out, reasonably enough.

Weyland shook her head in irritation, no wishing to be side-tracked from her main purpose "Jeanette it's vital that we unlock the secret of their stealth technology. It would be worth an untold fortune – almost beyond price. Doesn't that motivate you?"

"With respect Ma'am, the exotic's technology is not what I'm here to decipher. I already wasted considerable amounts of time studying his portable computer whilst I was in the employ of the Unit and I would suggest the task is best left to those with more time to devote to these matters. you hired me to be head of life sciences, not an engineer or a tech consultant - "

"But I _did_ hire you as the world's leading expert on his species – if you can't get that information out of him who can?"

"Ms Weyland, I thought we'd been over this." Iversson said wearily "Even if you could speak to him who's to say he'd tell you what you want to know? Or that you could trust what he says? We _are_ keeping him prisoner."

"Yes well, that's your department," Weyland laced her fingers together "I've already told you what I want from him Jeanette; information. That's what I hired you for. Can't you give him some sort of encouragement – maybe some sort of electric shock treatment?"

Iversson folded her arms "Even if I were prepared to countenance such unethical cruelty I don't think it would work. From what I can gather his species pride themselves on their ability to withstand physical pain. In any case, with those implants in his spine he can't feel anything from the neck down anyway."

"So, remove them!"

"Ms Weyland, if I do that we run the risk of him getting free, is that really what you want?"

"Are you saying that you won't do what I ask?"

"I'm saying I'm not prepared to countenance torture. It's totally immoral and the results are unreliable."

"Well there must be _some_ way to get him to talk!" Weyland snapped "I don't care what you have to …" She tailed off and sank into silence for a moment.

"Do you think…" She said slowly "That he'd speak to us if we took the child down there to see him? Maybe if he knows we've got his son it would motivate him."

"Selim is not well enough." The Professor said firmly "He's recuperating and I don't want him upset."

"But how do you know the boy doesn't _want_ to see his father?"

"Ma'am, it would be foolish in the extreme," Iversson said "Selim has just undergone brain surgery. I don't want to move him, he needs more time to recuperate."

"Well if the real one is still too delicate," Diana's scarlet lips curled into a smile "We do have a pretty convincing double. Don't you think it would be good opportunity for Isaac to learn about his heritage, hmmm?"

Iversson's knuckles went white as she gripped the arms of her chair.

* * *

She was still had one fist clenched tightly in her lap an hour later as the railcar took them over the water to Island North. Her right hand rested on the back of Isaac's neck. The boy was oblivious to her anxious mood. He was engrossed in staring out over the waves "Look Mom, dolphins!" He said, grabbing hold of the side of the car and kneeling up to get a better look.

"Oh yes," She said weakly "How lovely." She watched uneasily the way his head flicked rapidly back and forth, following the movement. In fact it was now almost too dark for her to see them, but she knew his night vision was superior to hers – to that of any human.

"I'll bet I could get one!" He said, turning to her with a flash of his too-long canines.

"But Isaac, why do you want to catch one? They're so beautiful. Isn't it better to leave them where they are?"

"I dunno, maybe… I guess." He said thoughtfully.

"Besides, you can't swim." She reminded him.

His face scrunched up "Only cos you never let me in the water! I'll bet I could learn easy enough."

She patted him "I'm sure you could, maybe when the weather gets a bit warmer. It's very cold at the moment."

"Where are we going anyway?" He said looking up at her.

"Isaac, I already told you where we're going." She said "We've got to go over to the North Island to see Diana Weyland – do you remember her?"

"Yes," He said, without enthusiasm "I don't like her. She talks all snippy and she's got a mean face."

"Don't be rude." She reproached him, but gently. You couldn't get too angry with children for speaking the truth. "Well Diana wants to show you something but it might be a little… frightening."

Immediately he was all enthusiasm, excited at the prospect of anything even mildly dangerous "What is it?"

"I'll tell you more when we get there." Iversson didn't want to say too much. She was still hoping she'd be able to talk Weyland out of this, but she also didn't want Isaac to be totally unprepared if she couldn't.

Her employer was there to meet them when they arrived at the North Terminal. She flashed Isaac the bright, impersonal smile used by adults who have no interest in children. The boy didn't return it but stood scowling up at her, mistrustful as ever. Iversson's lips pursed, he was always so guarded around everyone else "But then I guess he's never had much reason to trust anyone… other than me." She thought sadly "And today isn't going to do anything but reinforce that."

As they walked down the corridor she leaned over to speak into Weyland's ear "Ma'am, I just want to say again that I think this is a terrible idea," She said in an undertone "I don't know what you think it's going to achieve but using a child in this way is totally unfair and unethical and we are risking – "

"You said your piece earlier Jeanette." Her employer's face was a mask of unflappable calm.

"Ma'am –"

"I've heard what you've got to say on the matter and you know my requirements, I'm afraid we'll have to agree to differ."

As the elevator travelled downwards, Isaac began to shiver slightly, despite the extra layers she'd wrapped him in. Iversson frowned, it was cold down here but she wondered if that was all it was.

"Isaac?" She said "Are you alright?"

"Yes, m'fine." He said through chattering teeth.

At least when they finally got to the room adjoining the holding cell, he stopped shivering "Why's it so hot in here?" He asked in a small voice.

As she took off the coat and the top layer of warm clothing she'd wrapped him in, Iversson felt an ache in her chest. He looked so little and vulnerable that she suddenly felt a terrible rage towards her employer for not giving a damn about him "She does see him as just a commodity!" She thought, incensed "I should turn round right now and march him back to the elevator but then… without her money, he would never have existed. She _owns_ him. And me!"

"Isaac," She said softly "I want you to be brave now and not be frightened. There's someone in the next room that Diana wants to talk to and she thinks you might be able to persuade him."

"Why doesn't she just go talk to him herself?" The boy frowned over at Diana Weyland, who was watching him intently.

"Because the person she wants to talk to is rather … difficult and she needs someone brave like you to come with her," said Iversson. She hated herself for lying to him but she couldn't think what else to say. Surely a little white lie was preferable to the truth "Don't worry though, he can't move. He can't get you – no matter what he says," She tried to reassure him, seeing his aghast expression "And I'll be right there with you."

He looked up at her for a few minutes, deciding "OK," He said uncertainly "I'll go."

She put a hand on his cheek "You're a good boy."

Looking into his trusting eyes she experienced a momentary twinge of doubt "Am I wrong not to tell him that creature is the nearest thing he'll ever have to a father?" She thought "Do I have the right to keep that from him?"

Standing up she stole a quick glance through the viewing window at the exotic. She'd been so busy she hadn't been down here that much over the last few days but Lloyd and Danzig reported that he often seemed to be sleeping, even though they'd taken him off the tranquilisers. She didn't believe he really could be unconscious that often "If I were in his position, I'd pretend to be unconscious too." She thought grimly.

As they entered the room she saw right away that the alien was watching them and she was struck again by the sheer horror of him. Even restrained and totally helpless he was an intimidating presence. Just his size alone was enough to make her want to shrink back against the door. Set beside the delicate, porcelain beauty of Diana Weyland he looked even bigger, even more hideous.

His eyes narrowed when he saw the two women and he twitched his dreadful jaws.

Any thoughts she might have had about telling Isaac the truth vanished in an instant. "It's one thing to find out your father isn't perfect," She thought "It's quite another to discover he's the nearest thing to the devil incarnate you're ever going to see!"

Then Isaac trailed in behind them, holding her hand. The exotic's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the boy and Isaac started in alarm "Mom!" He said shrinking back against her, almost trying to hide behind her leg "What is that!?

Then the alien said something in his own language – his deep, guttural voice echoing around the cell. It was incomprehensible to her ears but she thought she heard his son's name in amongst all the snarling and clicking.

Isaac looked up at her anxiously "What did he say to me?"

The exotic clearly heard what Isaac had said and seemed confused by it, distressed even. In amongst her own fear and anger Iversson was watching his facial expression and she definitely got the impression that he was upset by Isaac's question to her. He spoke again, fixing his eyes on the boy this time as if willing him to understand, speaking more slowly.

If the alien was distressed, Isaac was more so; he had gone ghastly pale.

Seeing the exotic's reaction, Diana Weyland seized Isaac's other hand and dragged him out of Iversson's grasp closer to their huge prisoner.

"So!" She said sharply "There is intelligent life inside that thick skull!" Before Iversson could stop her she thrust the boy in front of her so that he was only inches away from the creature. The terrified child struggled to break free but she held him in place with a hand on each shoulder "He doesn't know what you're saying!" She said slowly and loudly to the alien "So you will have to speak our language. I know _you_ understand me!"

The moment she laid hands on Isaac, the exotic's features twisted into an expression of ferocious anger and he growled at her, his face clearly stating that if he hadn't been paralysed Weyland would be a dead woman.

"You want him? Then just tell me." The CEO said, speaking as if to a child "If you want him _so badly_ , tell me how your stealth device works."

If the exotic did understand her, he gave no sign. He looked crazed, eyes glowing with phosphorus rage. He was obviously striving to move in spite of the impulse blockers. Iversson felt a little shock of alarm as she noticed that the fingers on his left hand twitch, the muscle in one shoulder tense a fraction.

Then as quickly as the rage had come it suddenly subsided. He looked hard at Isaac, breathed in deeply. Then he said something else in his own language and again she heard his son's name. To her surprise she found she knew what he was saying – not that she understood the words – but his expression, the tone of his voice, everything about his demeanour suggested it.

" _You are not Selim."_

He regarded the child for a few moments more as if trying to work out what or who he might be, where he might have sprung from. Then his gaze rose up slowly to Diana Weyland's pale face where she still stood, holding on tight to Isaac – her long nails still digging into his shoulders – and he laughed softly, like a file grating on metal.

Then he spread his jaws in what looked like a threat and said something else in his own language very slowly – something clearly intended for the woman. Diana didn't flinch but whatever he said it had an electrifying effect on the boy in her clutches. He tore himself free of her grasp and bolted for the door. "Isaac!" Iversson scrambled after him, shooting an angry glance back at her employer.

She found him sitting outside on the floor of the control room, almost hyperventilating with fear. "Are you alright Isaac?" She crouched down next to him on creaking knees and put her arms around him. She could feel his heart racing like it was about to leap out of him, a trapped animal. He was obviously terrified half to death.

"It's okay, you're safe now!" She soothed "You don't have to go back in there, it's alright…"

He looked up at her, teeth chattering again, gulping as he tried to speak "He said –"

"Yes?" Iversson frowned.

"He said – he said –"

She was confused, not about why Isaac was afraid, but as to how he could know what the alien had said "What is it Isaac?" She asked "What did he say?"

"He said –" Isaac shivered and tried to wipe away the tears that had started to pour down his face with the back of his hand "He said – he wanted – he's going to -"

Iversson waited patiently while he gulped and sobbed."He said – he's going to – turn her – inside out!"

Then he started to cry properly, sobbing into her lap. She folded him tightly against her and rocked him, a maelstrom of confusion and worry churning in her gut.

How the hell could he know what the alien was saying?


	17. Chapter 17

Lex sat by Selim's bed. She was feeling a bit more together now having finally managed to get some sleep, have a shower. They'd also given her some clean clothes, black cotton trousers and a plain black t-shirt. At least she now felt a little less like a zombie.

They were playing a board game that one of the staff had left in the room to keep him occupied. She was surprised and pleased that her son actually seemed to be recovering a lot faster than Professor Iversson had predicted. He was already a long way towards being back to his usual boisterous self. In fact, despite being instructed to sit down and take it easy she was finding it difficult to keep him calm. He was fidgeting around so much she had suggested playing the game but even though such things were a novelty to him, he was still restless. Every time he managed to leapfrog one of his pieces over one of hers she had to almost restrain him physically from jumping up and doing a victory dance.

He also kept asking her about his father "Where is he? Does he know I've been ill? Why isn't he here?" A few times every hour he would ask the same plaintive questions.

She didn't know what to tell him, but every time he asked she felt a part of her shrivel up to see his misery. She put him off with vague answers but the truth was she couldn't tell him because she didn't know. According to Iversson, he was a prisoner here but more than that the Professor refused to say. At first Lex had been so eaten up with worry for their child and so busy trying to look after him that it had driven everything else from her mind. Now Selim seemed to be out of danger she couldn't stop thinking about Scar. What were they doing to him?

Having time and distance from the terrible night they had been captured, she now saw that he had almost certainly been right about Fil "With the shuttle's stealth techs there's no way Weyland Corp could have found us unless… unless he was wearing some sort of tracking device that they could follow."

The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced it was the only explanation that made sense. It wasn't that she now wished Fil dead, but if he had betrayed her so completely it threw a different light on Scar's actions "I can't blame him, not when I know he was just trying to protect Selim. Even if sometimes we disagree on the method, I trust him with our son's life… or mine. I'd trust him over any human alive."

If Selim's medical treatment hadn't been dependant on her co-operation she would already be trying to break out so she could look for him.

At night, when the boy had gone to sleep she was kept awake by thoughts of him being tortured, or dissected. "I wouldn't put anything past Weyland," She thought "She told me about Isaac in a way calculated to cause me the maximum amount of pain and I could tell she enjoyed it. _And_ she was so obviously trying to stir up my hatred against Iversson, the spiteful snake!" She gave no credit to the woman's claims to have gotten over her desire for retribution.

Since their initial meeting she had visited and spoken to Lex several times, always turning the conversation around to try and probe her. Lex could tell that her main interest was in the yautja technology – the cloaking devices in particular – though Weyland was too clever to ask her directly.

She could guess why; it didn't take an entrepreneurial genius to imagine just how valuable such a thing would be to her company. Several times she had tried to find out what Scar might have told her about the devices. On this as on all other subjects related to him Lex would stonewall "I don't know how it all works." She said flatly "How would I? He dealt with all that stuff himself and he didn't ever discuss it with me. He barely spoke to me."

So the CEO would smoothly move onto something else showing no hint of disappointment. Even though she always remained outwardly cordial, Lex could sense an undercurrent of malice lying behind her polished smile.

She ignored Selim as if he were a piece of furniture.

In the meantime Lex racked her brains for a way to find out where Scar was without violating her agreement with Iversson. Selim was still on painkillers and he needed monitoring; though the Professor had said that, all being well, his stitches could come out tomorrow.

She suddenly realised that she hadn't been concentrating on the game and only now saw that she had been utterly defeated. "I am victorious and you lose, I have beaten you Mother!" Selim gave her a beaming smile, all razor sharp canines.

"You sure did." She smiled "I guess I'm going to have to practise harder if I want to win against you!" She was about to suggest another round when the door opened and she saw Iversson. Isaac was with her and she had her hands on his shoulders, restraining him from rushing into the room. It was the first time she'd seen him since their initial meeting and the shock of his existence hit her all over again. For a moment she was irritated with the Professor for bringing him here without asking first.

Then something strange happened. Selim saw Isaac. She expected him to be as shocked and surprised as she was but instead, he slid off the bed and ran over before she could stop him. When he got there he seemed confused about what to do next. He danced excitedly from foot to foot, his grin the absolute mirror image of the other boys, waiting for her to come over.

Lex was both puzzled and amused to see that both children were watching the adults as if they had done something naughty and were waiting to see if they were going to be discovered.

"Selim," She said finally "Why don't you go and show Isaac the game we've been playing? And no rough stuff, remember you're still meant to be taking it easy."

"Isaac," The Professor said sharply "That applies to you too, remember you have to be gentle."

As the two children rushed off gleefully, she turned to Iversson "Did that seem a little strange to you?"

The Professor looked thoughtful "I admit I was expecting more natural caution on both sides." She said, as they watched the two boys sitting on the bed whispering conspiratorially to one another, seemingly as thick as thieves already. Seeing them together, Lex couldn't help smiling. It was nice to see these lonely little kids getting along. Selim certainly needed to spend more time with other children and she doubted Isaac got to socialise much either.

"Do you think it's some kind of…I don't know…" Lex shook her head "…genetic sympathy?"

Iversson tapped a foot on the floor sceptically "I doubt it."

"Then what?"

For a moment the older woman seemed like she might be about to say something, then she shook her head "It's not important."

Lex put her hand on her hip and gave her a long look "I'd trust you a lot more if you stopped keeping things back from me Professor."

Iversson smiled tightly "Alexa, you know I have the utmost respect for you, but you have never been especially candid with me so I'm sure you understand."

Lex frowned, disappointed at not getting a more friendly response. Diana Weyland's ploy to harden her antagonism against the Professor had quite the opposite effect. Since seeing Iversson's guard come down she felt a lot more warmth towards her. She'd always assumed the Iversson's apparent sympathy for her to be an act but now she was beginning to wonder if it might be genuine.

"I thought we were beginning to understand one another." She thought "I never imagined she might be a mother too. Of course she might be lying but… she looked pretty broken up when she told me about her son. Maybe she does understand, maybe… maybe I could even persuade her to help me."

Despite all these thoughts running through her head she didn't quite trust her shifting feelings. "I've got to harden my heart." She told herself "I haven't been around other humans for such a long time; there's a good chance my instincts are wrong. I have to remember she's still working for Weyland. After all," Her eyes narrowed "Philandering men aren't the only ones who can use lies and sob stories to gain your sympathy."

* * *

"Do you think they know?" Isaac asked as they sat together on the bed, pretending to play with the board game.

Both children understood what he was talking about without him having to say it.

Since the first night that Isaac had sneaked into Selim's bedroom, they had seen each other every night. Selim would pretend to be asleep until the adults left and then he would wait, watching the ventilation grill until finally it would swing open and Isaac would drop silently to the floor. The only occasion he had not done so had been the previous evening. After his visit to Island North, Isaac had been so distressed and frightened that Iversson had to stay with him until he fell asleep.

"I do not think so." Selim glanced furtively at his mother, she was watching him but at least she was smiling so she wasn't angry "I think we got away with it."

"You know what we should do?" Isaac's face had mischief written all over it "Tonight we should both climb out of this room and go explore! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

Selim squirmed where he sat "I do not know if I should," He said reluctantly "My Mother says I have to be careful or I will not recover as quickly."

"What's wrong with you?" Isaac demanded "Why aren't we allowed to play properly? Are you sick?"

"I am fine!" Selim didn't like to admit to being weak "It is just my Mother worrying; my Father always says she worries about me too much."

Isaac looked down at the floor. He seemed to have something weighing on his mind "Selim," He said "Do you believe in monsters?"

Selim wasn't sure if he did "I do not know, I suppose so."

"Have you ever seen one?"

Selim thought about it for a moment "What do they look like?"

Isaac paused. After coming back from Island North he had spent the rest of the night enmeshed in horrible nightmares where the monster interrogated him; asking questions he only half understood while Diana Weyland gripped his shoulders in her blood red claws. Sometimes in the dream, Diana and the monster were the same person; sometimes the creature was carrying out its threat, Diana's inside-out body looking like an empty suit of clothes flapping in the breeze.

He swallowed hard "Big and ugly, really ugly," He said "With sharp teeth and shiny eyes."

Selim considered this. He'd seen a lot of creatures fitting this description whilst out hunting with his father – crocodiles, large lizards and other beasts – but he wasn't sure they qualified as monsters. They could give you a shock if they leapt up out of the undergrowth right in front of you, but the thought of them didn't keep him awake afterwards. Once you saw they could be killed or trapped you realised they were just animals, not terrors to make you shiver with fear in the night. He'd helped Mei'Savir trap and kill a lot of these kinds of animals. Some of them tasted really good.

The things his mother and father had told him about hunting together probably did count as monsters but he had never seen them, only heard the spine chilling accounts of it.

On the other hand, he didn't want to be outdone.

"I see them all the time." He said "My father and I have tracked and killed them on many hunts. My mother also has done this."

"Really?" Isaac gasped "So you know how to kill one?"

Selim was sure of answer to that "Yes, they are not very difficult to kill. You can use your blades or trap them or shoot them. It really depends how big they are."

Isaac absorbed this silently. He was wondering if he should tell his new friend about the monster he'd seen on Island North. Maybe Selim would laugh at him for being scared, he certainly seemed to have more knowledge on the subject than Isaac did. If Selim's parents killed monsters maybe he didn't need to be scared of them.

Finally he decided the lure of hearing what Selim thought outweighed the fear of being laughed at "I saw a monster last night!" He said.

Selim was intrigued. He'd wondered why Isaac had not turned up the previous evening "Where was it?"

"Over on Island North, in this horrible hot room. It spoke to me."

"What did it say?" Selim had never heard any of the creatures he'd hunted speak before.

Isaac frowned. Even thinking about what the monster had said disturbed him but he repeated the words as best he could.

Selim blinked.

"The monster was speaking yautja?" He said, disbelievingly.

Isaac was defensive "Don't you believe me? I _told_ you - "

"It said it would do that to _you_?"

"Not me!" Isaac shook his head vigorously "It said it to Diana."

"Who?"

"She runs this place, I hate her too." Isaac frowned "She was the one who wanted me to go see it and she pushed me right up to it and I thought it was going to get me! Then it got really angry and then it said those words."

Selim was shocked. An adult had made Isaac go into a room where a monster was? Had pushed him close to it, worse had used him as a shield against it? His mother would never do such a thing. His father certainly wouldn't, quite the reverse. They would always step in to protect him if a monster – if _the prey –_ got too close. Any adult was supposed to do this. Any adult with _honour_.

"Where is Island North?" He asked "Is it near?"

"You have to go over the sea to reach it."

"So it is a long way over the sea?"

"No, there's a bridge between there and here. It's not that far."

"So it could get over here then?"

Isaac looked at him in horror. That was the thought that had kept him awake much of the night before. Hearing Selim say it out loud made him suddenly feel the awful gut-twisting fear again.

"What if… the monster comes for me?"

* * *

In the lowest level of Island North, Danzig stood back with a frustrated little sigh. Another… _incubator_ lost before hatching could take place. It really was too inconvenient. His work was already suffering from a lack of such test subjects. Even with the financial might of Weyland Corps behind him, he never had enough but he carried on because this was a labour of love.

It had begun when he was selected to be the most senior scientist on the company's team that had followed in Charles Weyland's footsteps a few years back and revisited Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica. Professor Iversson had not accompanied them. She'd been too busy supervising the care of her two year old hybrid duplicate.

"Entirely her loss!" He reflected smugly.

For him Antarctica had been an epiphany. He'd been expecting something pretty amazing but really nothing could have prepared him for such an awe-inspiring find. Not the Pyramid, although it had been badly damaged by powerful explosives, some portion of it still remained and that was fairly incredible.

But no, what had excited Danzig were the _eggs_. Huge, leathery things fixed to the floor by long coiling roots. All frozen they were when he first found them; covered in a thick coating of frost. They'd brought them back here still on ice. He'd thought they must be dead, that surely no creature could survive such inhospitable conditions. That was before he'd known about the Hive – as he called them.

Now he knew and the more he found out the more lost in admiration he was. They were such a perfect system. They represented an evolutionary zenith - so purely and solely designed for one purpose: to pillage all living things for their own ends. Danzig looked down at the still twitching form on his operating table and frowned. Of course humanity had form on that score but compared to the Hive, man was just a fumbling neophyte. His clean predatory drives were clouded by all sorts of muddy thinking to do with morality and religion and sentimentality. "It's as Nietzsche says," He thought "'Morality is just the herd-instinct in the individual.' For a scientist like me it is meaningless."

He wiped some perspiration from his upper lip; it was very hot down here. This room was kept at the same sweaty climate as the holding cell upstairs and now the butchers shop smell of blood was becoming stronger. He had been working all night without really noticing but now it suddenly seemed overpowering.

He sighed. Such a messy process, but in the end he knew it would be worth it. His incubators were never going to last long but recently his ministrations had been hastening their demise rather sooner than he'd like. It was causing him to go through his supply of test subjects much faster than before. Now he wasn't just using them for hatching – he had a much more complex goal in mind. Danzig had discovered something; something that would give him protection from the Hive and allow him to walk amongst them.

He was trying to achieve something greater than merely increasing the sum total of man's knowledge – a worthy aim but rather unambitious.

No, what Danzig saw when he looked at the Hive was nothing less than the advancement of human beings to the next level.

If he could control this masterpiece of evolution and become its master himself, surely that would make him a god.


	18. Chapter 18

Lex was waiting for Selim to go to sleep. He seemed about to go under, his eyelids were fluttering – then finally they drifted closed. After a few minutes she got up, stretched and walked to the window to stare out over the ocean, thinking.

After a moment she heard Selim's voice saying "Mei'Varsi?"

She turned, surprised. She thought he'd dozed off "Yes sweetheart?"

"Are there such things as monsters?"

She was taken aback, not knowing how to respond for a moment. Unfortunately she knew absolutely that the answer to his question was 'yes'.

"Yes Selim, there are monsters." She thought "I've seen them; spoken with them; fought them… killed them."

Some monsters were immediately recognisable; others had been less easy to spot – outwardly human but still monsters underneath. She looked into his luminous eyes, wondering if this was the kind of bedtime story she ought to be telling him.

"Why do you ask?" She said finally, coming back to sit by the bed, not wanting to lie to him but shrinking from telling the truth. He seemed to be hesitating, wondering if he should say any more. She guessed this had been prompted by something Isaac had told him. Selim had never been especially prone to night terrors before.

She waited patiently, knowing he would tell her eventually. Maybe the other boy had sworn him to secrecy but Selim was still her little boy, he always told her in the end.

"Isaac says he saw one," He said finally "He said that the human female who is in charge of this place took him to see one. Somewhere called the North Island. He said she made him go into a room where there was a monster. It was wrong of her, was it not Mei'Varsi?"

"If what he said is true, then yes it was very wrong. Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"I suppose so." He looked down, obviously unhappy at the thought that his new friend might be a liar "He says… the monster spoke to him."

"What did this monster look like?" She asked "What did it say?"

He told her.

Lex hid her surprise, Selim might not recognise his father from Isaac's description but she sure as hell did.

Selim was still watching her anxiously "But how would a monster learn to speak yautja Mei'Varsi?"

"I don't think you need to worry Selim." She said finally "The creature Isaac saw isn't a danger to you or him. Isaac misunderstood. Try to forget about it." She didn't want to tell him that it was Scar Isaac had seen, that he was being kept prisoner. Selim would be distraught at the thought of Scar imprisoned and in trouble – or that his new friend could think his father was so terrifying.

"How do you know?" He persisted "It could get over here and – "

"Trust me, I know." She smiled and stroked the side of his face "I promise."

When he'd fallen asleep at last, she thought about what he'd said and couldn't help a small smile

"So Scar told Weyland he's going to turn her inside out," She thought "He's not in the habit of making idle threats. If – no – _when_ he gets free I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, or even standing too near her!"

Her hatred against Weyland flared, she had used Isaac – a child so very much like her son – as a pawn…

"That woman is as toxic as radioactive waste." She thought grimly "This was obviously all part of her mind games; trying to make Scar think it was Selim – she obviously doesn't realise that he can tell the difference. He'd work out pretty quickly that Isaac isn't his son, they'd smell different. Even so, I bet it was a shock to him just like it was for me. He'd be confused, he doesn't even know that Selim is alright like I do. No wonder he said that to her. She didn't care if that little boy was scared out of his wits. I'll bet she would do anything to get… what she…wants… "

Suddenly an idea came to her, a way she could get to Scar, a phrase that her captor had used popped into her head: "… can't you ask your alien _friend_? Surely he knows…"

"Weyland wants information about yautja technology but she also enjoys making us both suffer. I'll bet she'd jump at the chance to take me to Scar if it means she can inflict pain on me and get the information she's after into the bargain. All I need to do is convince her that seeing him would be a clever way to do both."

Lex frowned, turning the idea over in her mind "I have to be careful, I can't let her know it's what I want – she has to think it's her idea."

* * *

Over the coming days Isaac started to spent more and more of his time with her and Selim. Usually this meant they had to be under the watchful eye of Farrell, who seemed to be Isaac's minder, bodyguard and jailer all rolled into one.

Lex disliked him intensely. Despite having to spend so much time with the boy Farrell never showed him any kind of warmth.

This particular day Farrell had been teasing Isaac, baiting him until the boy was stirred up into a fizzing ball of rage. Then the man had lost his own temper and shouted at him, calling him a horrible little deformed brat.

At this Isaac had really exploded. He looked like Scar in miniature when angry, breathing rapidly, eyes glowing, hands clenched into fists "Don't you dare call me names!" He yelled, his voice shrill with temper "I'll tell my mother and then she'll – "

"You don't have a mother!" Farrell bellowed in his face "You were grown in a lab! You're an experiment not a child!"

Lex was shocked "Alright, maybe Iversson isn't his real mother," She thought "But Farrell doesn't care about the truth, he just wants to belittle Isaac's relationship with the only parent he's got. He's doing it out of spite, to crush him!"

Seeing the stricken expression on the boy's face she felt a sudden and terrible rage on his behalf. She stood up and put herself in between them, staring down Farrell furiously "Don't you ever speak to him like that again." She said quietly.

He checked, then he remembered he was meant to be in charge "Or what?" He sneered "You're a prisoner here, you can't do shit."

Lex smiled very slightly. Maybe she was a prisoner and she was unarmed, but she'd had plenty of practice at sizing people up and she seriously doubted she'd needed any help dealing with the likes of Farrell. He might be able to play the big man well enough to fool a little boy but she guessed he wouldn't be so keen to tangle with someone who could fight back.

Her black gaze didn't flicker for an instant "Did Iversson ever tell you what happened to the guards at the last facility that held me prisoner?"

"Yeah well, your _boyfriend_ isn't here now!"

"Maybe not, but in the last six years I've learned a lot from him." She stepped closer to him very slowly and deliberately, unnervingly confident.

She remembered facing up to Scar, D'Kand, Khurshad – compared to them staring down Farrell was no challenge. When their faces were only a few inches apart she said, softly enough so the boys couldn't hear "For example, I know how to take the skin off your face with only three cuts. If you slice in the right places it peels right off, just like a mask."

His belligerent expression wavered, then died.

Of course she had never peeled someone's face off or even seen Scar do it to a human being (she put the time when she _had_ seen him skin someone resolutely out of her mind) but Farrell didn't have to know that.

He opened his mouth to speak but she put a finger to his lips "Every time you feel tempted to lose your temper with Isaac," She whispered "Just… remember that."

The look on his face as she turned to rejoin the two boys gave her a great deal of satisfaction.

* * *

"I'm really very sorry about this." Said Danzig softly, via the intercom.

He was surprised to find that he actually meant it; the failure of this most recent test run of his invention was indeed deeply regrettable – not least because it might take a few days before he could secure another subject and he had another variant of his hormone mixture to test out.

It had been a stroke of genius, the kind of 'Eureka' moment that every scientist dreamed of and prayed for but that he had never really expected to happen to him.

As a species he'd found, the Hive were incredibly aggressive towards human beings right up until the point where they had managed to impregnate them with one of their larvae. Then they suddenly lost interest in them. When Danzig had realised this he had been intrigued. At first he'd wondered if it was because they were generally cocooned and unable to move so he tested this theory with some subjects who had been exposed and the results had been … exciting. Even test subjects who were unsecured were inspected and then ignored. Of course, it wasn't much use to the test subjects in queston, their days were already numbered (In fact their hours were already numbered, the incubation period for the Hive's larvae tended to last around 18 – 24 hours) but still, it set the wheels of his mind turning "How do they know that particular human has been impregnated? Do they recognise them by sight? Or perhaps by smell? Or do they communicate amongst themselves?"

But, meticulous to a fault, he tested that theory. Even children of the Hive that had hatched out after impregnation had taken place and been kept in isolation still knew not to attack the exposed test subjects.

"It's not because they recognise individual humans then…" He realised, they must have a way of detecting their larvae within a human host. Sight seemed an unlikely marker as the humans didn't look any different to his eye, so he started thinking about their scent.

Blood and skin swabs confirmed it: humans who were incubating the Hive's children produced a very particular cocktail of hormones in their perspiration, something that would warn the adults that they were no longer viable hosts. Immediately he had set about trying to synthesize this chemical compound, to make a perfect imitation that would camouflage a human from them and make it possible ton pass amongst them unharmed. So far success had eluded him.

It was just so frustrating "My reasoning is sound, I know it is!"He thought, staring gloomily through the thick glass at his most recent test subject "The hormone tag should have protected her. They saw through it, but how?"

Yes it was deeply to be regretted, not that his regret made much difference now to the subject in front of him. In her current state she probably couldn't hear him, couldn't hear much of anything. As far as he could make out the Hive kept their hosts in a state of unconsciousness during the intubation process.

"In a way she is the lucky one," He told himself "Her troubles will soon be over, but mine…" Resignedly he turned down the illumination in the Hives' chamber. There would be nothing more of interest to see in there tonight.

* * *

" _I would prefer they used my carcass as a host for the hard meat."_ Scar thought cynically _"Anything would be better than rotting here like a flaccid sack of blood."_

The cell was in darkness, though what would have been impenetrable gloom for a human was less so for his catlike eyes.

He liked the nights. It was certainly preferable to the days when he had to suffer all the various indignities of being handled and jabbed and prodded by a subspecies – " _Do not think of them as a subspecies,"_ He mentally reprimanded himself _"They were advanced enough to take you captive. It never pays to underestimate ones… enemies."_

He exhaled slowly. That was the other thing about the night, the relative peace helped him think _"Not as if I can do anything else right now. If I had thought I would ever end up a useless cripple…"_ Resolutely he severed that chain of thought. _"Wallowing in self pity is for fools and weaklings."_ He told himself _"Sain'Ja feel no pity, for themselves or for their enemies."_

He could stop himself from feeling maudlin about his situation, but he found it less easy to maintain a sense of detachment about Lex. All this time being held prisoner by her species and he had not seen her. _"Is she is a prisoner or has she chosen not to come to see me? What if she has betrayed me?"_

At that moment a noise broke into his thoughts as the door to his cell slid open and one of the human males entered. It was Lloyd, the one who smelled of sickly cosmetic lotions rather than the one who reeked of the hard meat.

Scar forced himself to become calm, ears alert for any information. Despite himself he almost looked forward to this human's visits: idiot though he was, his loquacious nature meant that he was a source of news and at present Scar was desperate for any information he could get about the situation.

Tonight though Lloyd was alone and so Scar was deprived of even that meagre diversion. No, instead of his usual unguarded chatter the human was speaking to himself: "Maybe I didn't treat you ….quite as well as I should have…"

At first Scar thought he was talking nonsense. The cadence of his speech was strange, the pitch kept rising and falling, words were strangely elongated.

Suddenly memory fluttered a papery wing. He recalled Lex doing the same, chanting what seemed like gibberish to Selim. "'Singing.'" He thought _"The human is_ 'singing', _that is what Lex called it."_

This particular human habit he had always found stupid and pointless but in his helpless state he found it wasn't totally abhorrent. It was … not soothing exactly but now he knew human language well enough to understand what it meant the effect was different.

"And I guess I never told you … I'm so happy that you're mine…"

Despite himself Scar found himself actually following the words. It seemed to be some sort of lament or possibly a plea for forgiveness, addressed to someone whom they had wronged. He wondered idly whom this human had wronged and what he had done.

"If I made you feel second best … girl I'm sorry I was blind…"

So this human's dispute was with a female and by the sounds of it, she was a female he had enjoyed sexual relations with. Scar had discovered through bitter experience that in such situations females were disposed to make you sincerely regret your transgressions against them and they were skilled at doing so.

" _Perhaps she has repudiated him."_ He thought _"Just as Lex has done to me. Maybe she has decided that I deserved no loyalty because of what I intended: to dispatch the pathetic traitor who called himself her friend. She is impulsive, given to extremes of emotion. She can bear a grudge and nuture implacable hatred… just as I can!"_

Now he considered it, this was something they shared. In fact it was something he liked – that he _enjoyed_ – about her. They fought often, they disagreed on so many things, but he always found it exhilarating. The more she fought him the more he wanted. In his rage he had suspected her of betrayal, but he couldn't really believe it. Even now she still preoccupied him.

Then for some reason the human male's voice rose up to a higher volume, the tone melancholy and hollow in this metal room.

"But you were always on my mind… You were always on my mind…"

Scar listened, totally entranced now… fascinated _"How can the human know what I am thinking?"_


	19. Chapter 19

After Lex's confrontation with Farrell, he never dared to insult Isaac in her presence though she often suspected he would have liked to. She tried to question the boy gently, make sure the minder wasn't mistreating him behind her back. As far as she could tell things seemed to have improved a little, although he never said anything pleasant to Isaac at least he wasn't actively vindictive.

Farrell wasn't the only member of Weyland's staff who was always hanging around. The Suit – Rathbone, he'd told her his name was – kept materialising at odd moments. She'd be busy talking to the two children, then she'd turn and he'd be there watching. Or she'd get up to leave Selim's room at night after he'd fallen asleep and find him waiting along with the other two guards, ready to take her back to her cell. And of course it was he who came to collect her whenever she was summoned to Weyland's office, but she assumed this at least was part of his job. She knew now that he was Weyland's head of security.

He was always trying to engage her in conversation and she was pretty sure he was hitting on her. Though she always tried to answer him enigmatically enough to keep from either encouraging or discouraging him, she found it rather distasteful. It wasn't just that she was a prisoner and couldn't really avoid seeing him; it was the way he even flirted with her in front of Selim.

Luckily her son was still too young and too inexperienced in the ways of human interaction to really understand what was being said but even so, it made her intensely uncomfortable whenever Rathbone started circling and Selim was there. On her own she could handle him but her son was a clever boy and was almost certainly picking up on something. It was in his demeanour, the way he always became sullen and withdrawn whenever the security chief was present.

" _Why is that human male always here Mei'Varsi?"_ He asked her one day in yautja when Rathbone turned up unexpectedly right in the middle of a game they'd been playing _"Why do you let him come?"_

" _Selim, what do you mean?"_ She looked up in surprise and saw his expression, uncharacteristically belligerent

" _How can you be so friendly to him?"_ He said accusingly.

" _Selim!"_

" _I do not like the way he looks at you!"_ He snarled.

She noticed Isaac watching them closely and guessed because he was trying to follow what they were saying. She knew that Selim had taught him some yautja words but she wasn't sure how much he understood. Rathbone was also observing them with interest.

" _Do not speak to me like that!"_ She snapped.

" _I know my Father would not like the way you speak to him! How can you be so friendly when we do not even know where he is?"_

 _"You really think I do not care about your father?!"_

He glared at her angrily, sharp incisors bared _"You look as if you have forgotten him already!"_

She was shocked, Selim had never spoken to her this way before. It was unbearable! Her jaw set hard " _Maybe you have inherited your father's temper after all,"_ _She said icily_ _"But I do not tolerate it from him and I certainly will not tolerate it from you!"_

He hung his head, immediately contrite and she put a hand on his shoulder, feeling a little guilty about the reprimand. " _I am_ 'sorry' _Selim_ ," She said, having to use English as there was no such word in yautja _"I spoke… harshly."_

" _I just … I wish he would leave us alone."_ He said miserably.

* * *

"Kid doesn't like me, does he?" The security chief said later that evening, when the two boys had finally gone to sleep and they were walking the short distance to her cell.

"Are you surprised?" She sounded faintly amused "He doesn't even know you and he's wary of strangers. Besides, you're technically our jailer."

"Oh is that what that is?" Now it was his turn to sound sarcastic "And here I thought he might just be a little bit jealous."

"Of what?" She turned to look at him, a slight smile on her lips, one eyebrow an ironical black arch.

"Maybe it's cos he thinks I'm competition for Mommy's attention?" He looked at her wolfishly "And you know, I kinda get the feeling he might be right!"

In her head she could hear Scar's mocking laughter as clearly as if he'd been standing beside her.

" _This skinny creature is the competition? Then demon, I hope you have something sharp with which to pick the shreds of his flesh out of your teeth – after you devour him alive!"_

As one of the other guards went through the whole long-winded process of opening the door, Rathbone stood watching her under hooded eyelids, as if she couldn't tell he was looking at her.

"You know," He said quietly "The boy is sleeping."

"So?"

"So," He stepped a little closer "I don't have to go."

She smiled a fraction wider, not because she was flattered or attracted to him, but because he'd given himself away. For a moment she hesitated, just long enough for him to think she might decide to play his game – then quickly she slipped out of arms reach between the other two guards, disappearing into the dark.

He was left standing in the corridor, with nothing to do but go back to his post.

* * *

Isaac might have resembled Selim in looks but Lex was coming to realise his personality was quite different.

Where Selim was relaxed and sunny, Isaac was reticent and wary. He was outwardly confident but it only took a small upset to bring out his insecurities, usually manifesting as flashes of childish temper. He wouldn't throw himself into her arms with complete trust like Selim would, but if he was feeling upset he would now cautiously approach her to be comforted. She thought that he was beginning to accept her.

Selim occasionally resented this new rival for her affection and there were times when he and Isaac's rivalry erupted into minor fights or quarrels, but mostly he was just happy to have found a friend. Now that his bandages had come off, he and Isaac looked even more alike than ever – a fact that both they seemed to be pleased about.

Sometimes Lex found she had forgotten that he was a clone and had started to think of the two boys as real brothers.

"I suppose it's not far from the truth," She thought as she sat trying to teach the pair of them to play card games, desperate to find more activities to keep them from trying to fight and run around the place.

"If they had been two embryos fertilised in utero at the same time instead of one, we'd have called them twins. As it is, he carries my genes and Scar's too – just exactly the same as Selim does. Genetically, _I'm_ his mother, not Iversson. That means Scar is his father too." She paused, struck by an unwelcome thought "I wonder if he'd ever see it that way…"

"SNAP!" Isaac suddenly slammed his cards down on the pile in the middle of their little circle "I win! **I beat you!** Hahaha!"

"That is not fair!" Selim cried, leaping to his feet "You looked at my cards!"

"I did not!"

"You did!"

"Hey!" She said to Selim, who was trembling with indignation "Haven't you ever heard of being gracious in defeat?"

Her son folded his arms angrily "It is totally unacceptable to live with defeat!"

She stifled a laugh "Isaac won fair and square so just stop being a baby and we'll play again!"

"Yeah c'mon Selim," Isaac grinned "I promise I won't beat you too badly this time!"

Selim gave a little trill of noise and would have leapt on him but Lex held him back "You still have to be careful," She told him "Remember what Iversson said. You have to give your head time to heal properly." In truth the wound on his head had healed so fast it had surprised her.

"My head is fine," He said irritably "Stop fussing around me, Mei'Varsi!"

Lex was about to respond when she suddenly became aware of Diana Weyland watching them from the doorway. She'd obviously come in whilst the three of them had been absorbed in the game. As usual she barely acknowledged either Selim or Isaac, but was friendly where Lex was concerned.

"How sweet you're all getting along so well," She said flatly "I swear you'd never know they didn't both belong to you."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lex noticed Isaac flinch and scowl at this. "The poor kid's got no real idea where he belongs!" She thought.

Either Weyland really had no idea of the pain that her barbed comment would cause him, or she didn't care. Lex hated her for it.

"Hello Ms Weyland," She said in as friendly tone as she could muster "How nice of you to come and see us."

"Well it was you I was hoping to see actually Lex," Weyland said quickly "I want to speak to you. I trust you're not busy."

"Just let me finish this game." Lex knew Weyland could compel her to go if she wanted, she held the purse strings to Selim's medical care. She also knew she was going to have to play hard to get if her plan was going to work.

Weyland looked disbelieving that she would ever choose such an occupation willingly "Can't they finish it on their own? I _was_ hoping to talk to you right now, _alone_."

The two boys were both looking up at her with pleading expressions "Just one more game before you go Mei'Varsi?" Selim said "I promise I won't be a bad loser!"

"I promise I won't be a bad winner!" Isaac said this with all the dramatic emphasis of a gambler making his last desperate throw.

She looked into the matching yellow eyes and smiled, relieved that at least they wouldn't be alone after she'd gone.

"Lex?" Weyland said behind her and she turned to see the hired muscle had appeared in the doorway behind her. They didn't come into the room but the implication was clear.

"I'm going to have to insist." Diana said

Lex sighed and pushed herself to her feet.

* * *

The sea seemed to be especially rough this evening. As Lex padded unhurriedly after Diana Weyland's petite figure into her office, it was so dark outside that she could see of the ocean was the constantly moving shimmer of artificial lights reflecting off the heaving swell.

The complex was suspended on legs way above the surface of the ocean and Diana's office was up still higher, but the wind was so wild that every so often a huge wave would rear up and shatter across the deck below, hurling a burst of crystalline spray across the glass wall behind Diana's desk. The effect was made rather surreal by the total absence of sound – the glass so thick that no noise of wind or water could reach them. It was a testament to the immense wealth and power of Weyland Corp, Lex thought. They had managed to build a facility that felt like a luxurious office environment on what was basically a huge oil rig.

The lights in the room were down low. Lex noticed that for the first time ever, Diana's guards were totally absent. Professor Iversson was not present either as she usually was. Even Rathbone was waiting outside in the corridor. She wondered what Weyland could possibly have to say to her that had to be kept so secret and felt and sudden twinge of dread. What if she'd done something terrible to Scar and wanted to gloat about it? She smothered the fear.

As the waves crashed soundlessly outside she was slightly surprised to note that, instead of seating herself at the imposing desk, Diana Weyland moved to one of the large leather armchairs, motioning her to sit opposite.

"So," She said, when Lex was seated, gazing across at her "I suppose you're wondering what I want to talk about at this time of night?"

Lex nodded slightly.

"I won't beat about the bush Lex," Diana steepled her fingers together "I've tried the indirect way and it hasn't yielded any results so I'm going to be very direct. My technicians have the camouflage device we took from the exotic. I know it is operational because he used them to wipe out my extraction team in San Francisco."

"I've already told you," Lex said carefully "I don't know anything about how they work."

"So you said but I'm afraid I'm still not entirely convinced. I must warn you that in your position, refusing to give me what I want is not very smart."

"I told you everything I know."

"Lex, you're much too intelligent to give up all your information until you have to. I think you _are_ keeping something back from me."

"And what reason would I have to do that?"

"Well there could be any number of reasons," Diana inspected her long polished nails "But I suppose if I were to have to pick one I'd guess you were trying to guard his secrets."

"Whose secrets?"

Cupids-bow lips stretched into a smirk "Oh come now, we both know the answer to that. The alien's secrets; you have some sort of pact of silence with the father of your child and whilst that's very loyal - "

"You think I'm protecting _him_!?"

Weyland broke off mid-sentence and looked at her, puzzled "What?" She said.

"I wouldn't lift a finger to protect him!" Lex spat out the words disgustedly "You don't understand …"

Lex tailed off, waiting. She was faintly satisfied to see Diana Weyland's features freeze momentarily. This clearly was not the reaction she had been expecting.

It was only a split second lapse in Weyland's impressive control. Almost immediately her face rearranged itself into a mask of attentive sympathy as she changed gears.

"What do you mean Lex?" She said softly "What is it I don't understand?"

"What the last six years have been like for me." Lex looked away and put a hand over her mouth, letting her eyes fill with tears.

"And what were they like?"

"Like being in hell." She whispered "Because he's the devil."


	20. Chapter 20

"I don't understand…" Diana Weyland was frowning at her in perplexity.

"Iversson said the exotic came to Nevada to rescue you, if he's so terrible why in God's name did you go with him? And why did you stay with him for six years?"

"Do you think he'd let me _leave_? Have you _seen_ him?" Lex reached out and gripped the other woman's hand making Weyland start backwards in surprise "Can you imagine being kept as a slave – no worse, _a pet! –_ by that sadistic beast all that time? Just thinking about him makes me feel sick!"

She trembled, then gave a sob and covered her eyes.

Weyland seemed at a loss for what to do or say. Her expression was a mixture of astonishment and poorly hidden curiosity. She attempted to cover it by getting up and crossing over to her desk.

Lex cried on for a few moments, then made a show of pulling herself together. She offered silent thanks Iversson wasn't here as she'd have found it a lot harder to tell such barefaced lies in front of the Professor, who she actually had some measure of respect for.

The CEO came back with a lacquered tissue box, handed it to her "If you've been his prisoner all this time, why didn't you say anything?"

Lex took a deep shuddering breath "Well," She said "Professor Iversson isn't easy to talk to. She's spent so long in the lab I think she's forgotten how to speak to people…"

She was about to add "Not like you!" but stopped herself, "I don't want to overdo it. Weyland's malicious and greedy, but she's not an idiot!"

She was a little worried that her plan might backfire, but not much – she thought she had the measure of this woman.

Weyland nodded to herself with a self-satisfied smile; clearly she found it both easy and gratifying to believe that she had managed to succeed in getting the prisoner to open up where Iversson had failed.

"If you're right Lex, and he _is_ a monster," She said "Then that makes it all the more your duty to help me."

"What do you mean?"

Weyland leaned forward "You speak his language, you can talk to him. You could ask him about how his technology works. Persuade him it's in his best interests to tell us – "

Lex stared at her in panic "I can't see him!" She said, her voice breaking with hysteria "Don't make me see him again!"

"I guarantee you would be quite safe."

"No please, I can't!"

"I must warn you Lex, my patience will not stretch indefinitely." A note of irritation entered Weyland's voice now "You owe it to me – and to humanity to help uncover his secrets. Then we would have the technological edge on them."

"Please… don't ask me to do this!" Lex begged "You don't know what it'll do to me if I have to face him again – "

"I'm not _asking_ you!" Weyland snapped, her pose of tolerant sympathy evaporating "After all I've done for your son – after all I'm continuing to do for him – don't you think it's the least you owe me? Just imagine what would happen to Selim if suddenly all that medical care came to an end. Not only that but I'm sure the FBI would really love to get their hands on you."

Lex's jaw dropped at the sudden venom in her voice "Are you threatening me?"

Weyland's eyes seemed eerily enlarged in her bone white face, gems in a porcelain skull "It's not a threat, I'm just telling you what the future holds if you don't start being a lot more co-operative." She said "I've spent a great deal of money on you and your son and so far you're not providing me with much of a return on my investment. I might decide the best course of action would be to turn you in for the reward money."

Lex stared at her in horror "You wouldn't do that, after I trusted you?"

"Want to bet the rest of your life?" Weyland said brutally "Because once you're in federal custody I doubt you'd ever get out. It'd be either the death sentence or a lifetime of incarceration for you. You'd never see your son again."

"Please." She whispered "Please no. I couldn't bear it."

Weyland gave an unconcerned little shrug, the silk lining of her jacket whispered "Well it's entirely your choice but, unlike your former self, _I'm_ not running a charitable organisation. So what's it going to be?"

Lex shrank against the back of the chair but finally nodded her acquiescence.

"Good." Weyland stood up "Rathbone! Vincent! Get in here."

The two men appeared in the doorway

"Cuff her. Ms Woods and I are going for a little walk." Weyland gave a cold little smile "No time like the present."

* * *

Lex maintained the appearance of pitiful distress as they made the long and increasingly cold journey over to Island North but inside she felt quiet satisfaction.

"Couldn't even wait until morning to see me suffer." She thought as Diana Weyland seated herself on the rail car, hands folded demurely in her lap "I'll bet it's mercury that flows in those veins, something cold and poisonous anyway. Lucky for me I'm not really some poor shattered victim; imagine having to throw yourself on her mercy!"

As the spray covered windows flashed by, she looked out into the night "At last, I'm going to see Scar," She thought, then offered up a silent prayer "Oh please God, please let them not have done anything terrible to him, please let him be alright! I don't know what I'll do if he's … if he's not."

* * *

"What is she doing here?"

Professor Iversson spun round in alarm as Lex came through the door of the holding cell alongside Weyland and the two heavies. She'd been sitting at the monitoring desk with Lloyd but the moment she saw them she shot to her feet, her usual equanimity deserting her "Get her out of here! She has to leave right now!"

"Oh Jeanette, do calm down." Weyland snapped "I've just brought her down for a little chat –"

"Ma'am, you **can't** mean to let her see the exotic?" Iversson was appalled.

"Certainly I do," Weyland said "Now that Lex has told me how awful it's been for her being held prisoner all these years she's agreed to do what you're seemingly unable to: Get him to talk to us!"

Iversson turned to look at Lex, who returned her gaze blankly "Ma'am I don't know what she's told you but I would suggest you treat anything she says with _extreme_ scepticism. It's beyond doubt that she and the exotic were working together when he broke her out of the Nevada facility. She admitted as much to me herself!"

"With all due respect Jeanette, you're not exactly good at reading people are you?"

"Ma'am, I can't let you take her in there." Iversson folded her arms "We can't let them speak to each other when we can't even understand what they're saying!"

"You won't _let_ me?" Weyland said, with blue-blooded disdain "Tell me Jeanette, who owns this facility?"

"The Corporation owns it and I am the Corporation's head of Life Sciences. You hired me for my expertise in this field and I'm telling you – "

"I own the controlling interest in Weyland Corps, might I remind you. Ask yourself: whom do you think would retain custody of Isaac if I ever decided to terminate your contract?"

Iversson stopped dead "You wouldn't!"

Weyland tapped one long polished talon on her forearm "Care to test that theory?"

"No I… ," Iversson stuttered to a halt. Lex could see her weighing up her chances of winning this battle; then clearly she decided there was no point in fighting. Weyland held all the cards.

"Alright," She said, her face looking suddenly drawn "But she has to stay on this side of the glass. She can speak to him through the intercom."

"Of course."

With a terrible sense of foreboding Lex stepped up to the huge viewing window. The lights in the next room were quite low, all she could see was her own face reflected in the dark glass.

"She can't talk to him if he's sleeping," Said Weyland sharply "Wake him up!"

Iversson touched a control and harsh fluourescent lighting blinked on in the next room. Lex had to remind herself not to gasp in horror.

Thick strips of metal around his arms and legs and chest and throat and waist restrained him on a giant slab-like table. There were so many tubes and wires and sensors attached to his flesh that he looked almost like a machine himself. His eyes were closed but even from here she could see they were sunken and surrounded by dark shadows.

He looked sick, almost as sick as Selim had looked when he came out of surgery. "What the hell have they been doing to you?" She thought.

"Can he hear me?" She asked aloud.

"No." Iversson reached over and pressed another control and the intercom light blinked green. Lex leaned forward, closer to the mic.

" _S'Kia?"_ She said in his language _"Are you conscious?"_

At the sound of her voice his eyes snapped open.

" _Lexssssss!"_ He said _"How is – "_

" _Selim is better!"_ She cut in, knowing exactly what his first question was going to be _"Much better, they took out the lump. He is healing, getting stronger each day."_ Even if they didn't let her say anything else, she wanted to make sure he knew that. Wanted to spare him the agony of not knowing.

" _Good,"_ He took a deep breath _"I am glad."_ He shut his eyes for a moment then opened them again and scrutinised her more closely _"How did you persuade them to let you speak to me? I would hazard a guess it was not to reassure me!"_

" _No,"_ She made sure not even a hint of a smile touched her lips _"I told them that you are a violent and abusive sadist who held me in captivity for many years and that I would be incredibly distressed by seeing you again, so – "_

" _So naturally they could not wait to throw you in here with me!"_ He gave an evil little smirk _"You are still shameless, female!"_

" _You look terrible,"_ Even though she could keep the distress off her face she couldn't keep it out of her voice _"What have they been doing to you?"_

Suddenly he wasn't laughing any more _"Lex I cannot move,"_ He said _"They have put something in my spine. It has paralysed me. I cannot move even my fingers. I cannot feel anything from my neck downwards."_

A thrill of horror ran down her own backbone. Paralysed! Now she noticed, he was holding his head was at an odd angle. But Iversson surely wouldn't do something so wilfully destructive, would she?

" _Is it … is it permanent?"_ She whispered.

" _I do not know. They… have not said whether or not it can be reversed. I feel nothing."_

Weyland called her attention back "Have you asked him about the devices yet?"

Lex thought quickly "He's confused from the sedatives," She said "He keeps asking me where this is and how we got here. Give me a minute or two to talk him round. Hopefully then I can get some sense out of him."

She turned her attention back to Scar _"She wants to know how the cloaking devices work - "_

" _I know what she wants!"_ He interrupted _"This little white maggot has been spitting poison in my ear for days. Tell her to go and fuck herself with them!"_

" _Can we not just tell her how-"_

" _Never!"_ He snarled _"Even if I were a scientist to explain such things I would_ _ **die**_ _before submitting to such as she is. And once she knows you think she would release me? What is to stop her then disposing of both of us just as she likes? She wants to learn about yautja weapons – if I ever get free I will give her a demonstration of mine!"_

 _"There must be something I can do, some way I can get you out –"_

" _Forget about that!"_ He interrupted her _"There are things I need to tell you so be quiet and let me speak them before they take you away again. Lex, the hard meat are here."_

" _What!? How can you know that, have you seen them?"_

" _I_ _ **smell**_ _them."_ She could hear the growl rise up in his throat _"The sickly female has the scent of them on her sometimes when she comes to question to me. The darker headed male also."_

She made herself not glance across at Danzig. The hard meat, here? It sounded too awful to be true. She wondered if it was his mind playing tricks on him, some sort of feverish hallucination.

" _Are you sure you did not dream this?"_

" _Do you think I could ever mistake that stink? It burns my scent ducts!"_ His jaws twitched in frustration _"If an opportunity arises you must take Selim and escape; do not try to help me. If I am indeed paralysed you will not be able to move me and… I would not want to live anyway."_

" _What about what I want?"_

" _Just say you will not try."_

Leave him here to be used as a living cocoon for those vile creatures? She fought down a shudder _"I cannot promise you that."_

" _ **Just do it**_ _."_

Diana gripped her arm "I have to know what he's saying to you!"

"It's hard to persuade him Diana," She said in a quavering voice, not needing to pretend when the distress she felt was completely real "He's very angry and he suspects I'm in league with you, I'm not sure I can go on with this."

She hoped that was convincing, to the human ear yautja always sounded angry and aggressive even when speaking normally, and Scar was close to losing his cool. She could see that he was struggling to contain some strong emotion.

"You can't back out now." Weyland said dismissively, clearly unmoved "Just think about what I told you earlier."

Lex gave her a harassed look. Then she turned back to the glass and said quickly _"You said you had something else to say; do it fast, what else do you have to tell me?"_

She braced herself, wondering what could be worse than his being paralyzed and having those vile things lurking here somewhere.

His yellow lynx-eyes rested on her face.

" _R'Zuul asked me once if you were worth making myself a renegade and abhorrent to all my species for. You are. To me you are worth it all. The last six years I would not change… even if this is how it ends. You are always in my mind. I think of you constantly and I cannot help myself. It occurred to me that I have never made you aware of this. I thought I should do so now, as I doubt we shall speak again."_

She felt as if he'd punched her in the gut, it was all she could do not to fold up on the floor. In all these years he had never once said that he loved her and she had always assumed he didn't. That he wasn't capable of it.

"It's not his fault." She had told herself "Love is a human concept; his species don't even have a word for it. Of course he doesn't feel it! He hasn't had the cultural conditioning."

Now she realised she had been wrong. He did feel it and thinking he was going to die, he had lain here in the dark and thought of a way to say it. She could tell that he'd given it very careful consideration and that alone was enough to make her want to cry.

He was watching her, frowning suspiciously _"Do you understand what I have said?"_

" _Of course I understand! Why do you think I have stayed with you?"_

" _I thought it was for Selim, because you wanted him to know me."_

" _No you Bonehead, it is because I feel the same about you!"_

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she suddenly realised it was true. She _did_ love him. She had never made this terrible admission before, not even to herself, let alone to him. He was the only person she'd ever met who accepted both the good things and the bad about her but was still exciting enough to make her heart pound in her chest. She'd never felt about anyone else the way she did about him

His jaws bent into a lopsided grin _"That is just what I hoped you would say. Now I have said what I wish to, you must leave."_

Lex stared at him, the full horror of the situation only now dawning on her. She loved him... and he was going to die.

Her expression remained neutral but her eyes began flitting round the room the room furtively "Surely there must be a way!" She thought "Maybe I can steal a weapon, take Weyland hostage!"

" _I have to at least try to get you out!"_

" _No. Just go. Before they realise you are deceiving them. Let us make it convincing."_

" _I am not leaving!"_

" _You infuriating bitch!"_ He snarled at her, as if enraged, his voice getting suddenly louder _"Do you not realise this is torment for me, having you see me when I am powerless? Do you not understand you must do whatever it takes to protect yourself and Selim! Tell them I kept you prisoner or that I tortured you –_ _ **tell them whatever you want,**_ _ **JUST GET OUT!"**_

It took all her self control to keep her face impassive. She turned and started towards the door "Let me out of here!" She said thickly "I can't stand it."

Weyland grabbed her arm furiously "You're not going anywhere until I get the information I want! What did he tell you?"

Lex turned on her "He _told_ me that I am a contemptible human bitch for betraying him! Is that what you want to hear?" She spat in Weyland's face "He told me he should have skinned me years ago and if he could move he'd do it right now! He isn't going to tell me anything else now that he knows I'm here to help _you_ interrogate him!"

Weyland opened her mouth to retort but to Lex's surprise it was Professor Iversson who came to her rescue "Ma'am I think this has gone far enough." She said, stepping in between them.

"I'm warning you Jeanette - "

"And _I_ warned _you_ that this was completely ill-advised." Iversson said, in cutting tones "I told you that it was a risky strategy and would not achieve anything. I am not prepared to see my two subjects further distressed whilst they are in my custody. Now I am taking Alexa upstairs and I strongly suggest you leave the exotic to cool off before anyone speaks to him again."

"Are you sure about that, _Professor_?"

Iversson drew herself up to her considerable height, towering over her diminutive employer "Quite sure."

Weyland might be used to commanding obedience from her staff, but she was no match for the steel in Iversson's gaze. She looked up at the older woman in surprise. Then she turned and left without another word.

The Professor gazed after her thoughtfully.


	21. Chapter 21

Lex clung to Iversson's arm like a life preserver all the long cold way up to Island South. The Professor didn't say anything, just held onto her tightly. She steered Lex into her office and asked the guards to wait outside.

The moment the door closed behind them, Lex sat down on one of the chairs with her head in her hands and started to cry, for real this time. Iversson watched her cautiously.

"Alexa?" She said finally "Is what you told Ms Weyland true; were you really a prisoner?"

Lex took a deep breath, her chest heaved helplessly as she tried to regain control "What do you … care?"

"I'm worried about your state of mind." The Professors's face registered surprise and hurt "I admit I thought you were lying but you seem so distressed… I thought perhaps…"

"How can you pretend you give a damn?" Lex said fiercely "When you're holding me and those two boys on this floating prison and those _things_ are here?"

Iversson looked taken aback "What things?" She said.

"The serpents! Alien monsters!" Lex threw back at her "You brought them back here from Antarctica, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

" **He** told me so don't bother to deny it. You brought the hunters most dangerous quarry here, you and that Weyland bitch!"

Iversson took a deep breath "I don't know of any non-human presence here, Alexa, apart from the two children and their father. I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Lex dragged her hand roughly across her face and fixed Iversson with a piercing black gaze "You know." She said, her breath still miserably ragged "I was actually beginning to like you Professor… it's a pity that I'm never going to be able to trust you, because I could never trust somebody who's willing to let those monsters near those boys! Your little project is going to wind up wiping out all life on Earth!"

Iversson laid her hand on her chest "Alexa, whatever the exotic has told you I swear on Isaac's life I don't know what you're talking about."

Lex raised her head and fixed the Professor with a long hard look "Then one of us is being lied to. If you're telling the truth; that means it must be you."

"Are you sure you trust the word of that creature? I thought you told Diana you hated him?"

Lex took a deep breath, pressed her knuckles to her eyelids for a moment "He wouldn't lie to me about something that puts his offspring in danger. Either it's true or he believes it is, and if those creatures are here he'd know - he's got a kind of sixth sense about them..."

Iversson looked at her doubtfully; then she called the guards in from outside.

"Take Ms Woods back to her room," She told them.

At the door, Lex paused and turned to look at the older woman again "Watch your back Iversson," She said quietly "Weyland and Danzig: if I had any money I'd bet it all they're hiding something from you."

* * *

After Lex had gone, Iversson didn't waste any time in going straight to Weyland's office tower. The hour was late but she imagined that's where she'd find her employer and as she strode down the long corridor she could see a light still on at the window.

She was angry. Really angry.

She'd thought her relationship with Weyland was one of mutual respect, forged from a desire to increase the sum total of human knowledge. Of course Iversson wasn't blind or stupid, she knew that Weyland's primary concern was really the advancement and profit of the Corporation before all else but she'd thought that their two aims could coexist. The events of the last few days had made her realise that her employer did not see her as an equal. In her eyes Iversson was a hired underling or worse, a mere pawn in her malevolent mind games.

"The way she used Isaac to torment the exotic," She thought "And then used the exotic to cause pain to Alexa … and now it seems she's been playing me for a fool all along!"

She reached the lift that gave access to Weyland's office and stood as it ascended, tapping her heel impatiently "So, she thinks she can manipulate me does she?" She thought furiously "I didn't spend all those years holding my ground against some of the most powerful men in the world just to get pushed around by some capitalist Machiavelli!"

As the lift doors opened onto Weyland's imposing office she saw her employer was seated at her desk, tapping away at her computer. Her doll-like features looked ghostly, illuminated from beneath by the cold white glow from the computer screen. As Iversson approached, the chilly blue eyes flickered over her and the laptop shut with a click.

"What are you doing here Professor?" She said curtly "It's rather late."

"I have something to discuss that won't wait." Iversson managed to keep her tone civil, but it was an effort. She noticed that her employer had dropped her usual practise of addressing her by her Christian name and with it the rather phoney familiarity it conveyed.

Weyland sighed and got up from her desk. She selected an ornate bottle from her cabinet. Iversson knew enough about whisky to recognise a Macallan single malt. Her employer poured herself a generous measure without adding ice or water and without offering any to Iversson. Cradling the heavy glass tumbler in her tiny hands, Weyland sauntered back to her desk. She leaned back against it and took a small sip.

I'm already very displeased with you Professor," She said finally "I did ask you not to interfere earlier."

"Nevertheless I must speak with you."

Weyland swished the amber liquid unhurriedly around the glass whilst she turned on Iversson the same look one might give an irritating fly that had just buzzed in through an open window.

"You have five minutes." She said.

"I'm the head of the Life Sciences Division here," Iversson said, fighting to remain calm "That means the exotic and those two boys are under my jurisdiction and the same goes for any other live subjects in the Corporation's custody."

"That's thirty seconds already wasted in stating the obvious."

"Ma'am, do you have other extra-terrestrial life-forms here that I haven't been informed about?"

Iversson was watching Weyland's face and it seemed to her that at this question her expression became curiously wooden "I can't think what you mean."

"Something dangerously hostile," Iversson plunged on, though she could see where this was going "Something to do with your father's expedition to Antarctica? Have you brought some other kind of alien organism here without informing me?"

Weyland put her glass down and folded her arms "Given your increasingly erratic behaviour, I find that I'm rather reluctant to divulge the details of my other projects to you at this moment," She said "I thought scientists were meant to preserve a certain detachment and objectivity from their subjects, but your judgement seems to be clouded by sentiment."

"Because I won't play my part in your twisted little revenge tragedy?"

"This isn't about revenge, this is about money. And I'd be careful when throwing moral judgements around if I were you Professor. After all, who's been telling Isaac you're his mother all these years? I think most of your peers would see something weird and _unethical_ about that, don't you? Never mind the fact that it was your idea to create him in the first place – playing God with human DNA? What would your former employers think about that?"

Iversson didn't even bother to address the dig about the cloning; she knew her employer was in no position to make threats being up to her neck in that particular aspect of things herself. It was the insinuation about her treatment of Isaac that bit deep.

"You think that you can use that little boy as a way to control me," She said finally, when she felt calm enough to speak "You can see I care about him and to you, that's just a weakness you can exploit. You don't feel any kind of responsibility at all for his wellbeing yourself, do you?"

Weyland gave her a pained look "The only _responsibility_ I feel is to make sure that his existence brings in the maximum monetary benefit possible to myself and to this company." She said "If that means I have to sell him to the Defence Department or a rival military power or to whomsoever is willing to pay the price I ask, then that is what I will do. There's not much point in my developing a warm and loving rapport with him."

"You wouldn't even know where to start!"

"Oh do wake up Professor," Diana said, in gently mocking tones "Lex may not see Isaac as a product but I'm afraid that's exactly what he is. He's _my_ product! I paid a great deal of money for him and I intend to treat him as such. In fact the same goes for all four of them, Mommy and Daddy included. If I can make money out of eventually trading them over to whosever wants them – once I get what I want out of them – then so much the better. Those two children are just the start."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well now," Weyland tapped her perfect nails on the glass "I imagine that the amount of money people would pay for a fully-functioning invisiblity device pales into insignificance compared to what they'd pay for an army of alien hybridised soldiers."

"You're not serious!"

"Why not? I'm sure that we can find just the right mixture of their aggression and superior strength and human intelligence, through trial and error. Now I come to think of it, why hybridise them at all? We have the original; we can just make some copies of him! Of course we'd have to make sure they were trained and … conditioned for total obedience."

Iversson looked into those frigid china-blues and tried to be calm. Having worked for the government for many years she was no stranger to adherents of cold-blooded expediency but what Weyland had said to her chilled her marrow like liquid nitrogen. She really meant to sell Isaac to the highest bidder? Selim too?

"You're just trying to upset me now, it's beneath you. And you're also trying to distract me from the question I asked; do you have other alien life forms here aside from the exotic?"

"I'm not trying to distract you Professor," Her employer said calmly "I don't need to do that. You're on my payroll and _I_ decide what information you're entitled to know about the projects I have in train. If you have a problem with that of course feel free to hand in your resignation but I should make your mind up quickly if I were you. The last flight back to the mainland before the weekend leaves in forty minutes."

Iversson paused. Every instinct was telling her that Lex had been right and that made her extremely uncomfortable. If she was being lied to then she and everyone else on this complex could be in terrible danger but Weyland had called her bluff. Iversson could not go against her unless she was willing to abandon Isaac to her tender mercies.

"That won't be necessary," She said, with as much dignity as she could summon "Glad to hear it. Now if you'll excuse me, I am rather busy."

* * *

Danzig was busy in his little sanctuary, as he liked to think of it – relieved to be away from everyone.

It had been a strange night.

The odd scene when Weyland had brought the prisoner down to talk to the exotic. He had found it disconcerting to hear an attractive woman standing there growling and snarling all those weird syllables.

Impossible to tell what either she or the alien were saying to one another, her face was as emotionless as stone. The exotic's expressions were too bizarre and inhuman to decode. They could have been talking about anything – apart from at the end when the alien had got angry and roared at her and she'd all but fled the room.

Secretly, Danzig found himself in agreement with Professor Iversson: he wasn't sure what Weyland thought that was going to achieve and privately he considered her hope that the exotic would reveal the secret of the invisibility devices an unlikely one.

He was not especially impressed by the exotic and his species; clearly they had physical strength but he didn't credit them individually with much intelligence. They seemed to be all brawn and very little brain. The specimen they currently had in custody was living proof that they were just as susceptible to bouts of irrational emotion as humans, perhaps worse.

His _species_ had somehow come up with a superior form of stealth technology but he doubted that this particular individual had the brainpower to understand or explain such a complex feat of engineering – any more than the average man on the street could accurately explain the workings of a particle accelerator.

Unlikely or not, he went along with what Weyland wanted because she'd allowed him a pretty much free hand with _his_ little project.

In contrast to the exotic, he felt, the Hive were greater than the sum of their parts. From what he could tell they represented a gestalt consciousness, all of them functioning together almost like cells or parts of a body all ruled over by the Queen, the brain. Of course they had to be contained – for now anyway.

The glass viewing window was reinforced and there was also a sensor that triggered a burst of flame to discourage them if they got too inquisitive about the glass. If that didn't put them off, the little jets set under the window frame would trigger and spray them with freezing liquid nitrogen.

But now – to his great and lasting elation – he had a more sophisticated way of protecting himself from them, extra insurance in case his control system ever failed; a hormone tag. It was a little piece of genius on his part, a pin on device he could wear from which emanated a convincing synthesis of the chemicals produced by the human body when it had become impregnated by the Hive's larvae.

Wearing it, he could actually move amongst them unharmed. The first time he'd done it he'd been almost crying with fear but it had turned to tears of joy when he realised that – miraculously – his invention actually worked. They were completely taken in by the device; he could not have been more pleased. It was the highest compliment possible from a near perfect organism.

He thought they were coming to know now that he was in charge.

He sometimes could sit for hours just watching them – or at least he would have done if it hadn't been for the fact that he needed to keep their existence a secret from Professor Iversson. Of course he had his own small staff and they mainly stayed down here out of Iversson's way but he had to divide his time between here and his duties on the upper levels so that she didn't suspect. Mostly she was so obsessed with the exotic and her pseudo children that she barely even seemed to question that there was a whole level to Island North that she'd never even been down to. It meant he didn't get a lot of sleep but he didn't mind that. This was where he wanted to be anyway.

Now he was glad he was through with his duties upstairs for the evening. He was expecting some new additions to the Hive tonight and he had set his heart on watching them make their way into the world.

He was called out of his trance-like state by the sound of raised voices in the corridor outside.

* * *

Iversson had been angry on her way up to Diana Weyland's office, but as she stepped foot back into the cold and inhospitable atmosphere of Island North she felt positively homicidal.

Suddenly she could see why Alexa had had no trouble in resorting to violence, for once she wished she could do the same. It would have been very satisfying to wipe the self-satisfied expression off Weyland's blanched face.

The long elevator ride down to the lower levels passed in a blur. She knew she ought to go and check on the exotic, he'd seemed extremely agitated after his conversation with Alexa. Unlikely as it might be in his current condition, her fear was that if he was stirred up enough he might somehow find a way to escape.

She knew that's where she ought to be going, but somehow she found herself pushing the button which took her further down, past the level where she normally stepped off to get to the holding cell. A strong suspicion was forming in her mind.

If there were hostile alien lifeforms anywhere in this complex, unknown and unauthorised by her, then she could think of only one place where they might be kept.

She'd never been exactly forbidden to come down to this floor, but Weyland had always made it sound like the lower floors of North were mainly engineering decks, used for the purposes of maintenance.

When the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, she was surprised to see that, rather than the long winding corridors that filled the upper floors there was hardly any distance between the elevator doors and the set of sturdy double doors with guards stationed in front of them.

As she approached the two security stepped forward "I'm sorry Ma'am," This from Marino, Rathbone's first lieutenant "We can't let you go in there. You don't have clearance to be on this floor."

"Don't be ridiculous," She bridled "I am the most senior member of the research team. I'm cleared to go everywhere on this complex."

"Not in here y'ain't, Ma'am." He was unmoved by her indignation.

"Just let me in, Marino!"

"Professor, I'm gonna have to ask you to get back in the elevator."

"I'm not going anywhere until I see what's through that door!"

"Please Ma'am you need to go back upstairs."

"I'm not leaving until either you let me in or whoever's in there comes out God damn it!" She yelled.

Normally Iversson would never behave this way – losing her temper, shouting at a fellow member of staff, even a subordinate – but this whole situation was intolerable. Her nerves were shredded. She had been the pivotal figure in conceiving, designing and building this complex; the whole project had been her baby. Now she was being undercut personally and professionally, and worse still she couldn't imagine what was so awful that they had to keep it down here, a secret even from her.

At the sound of her shouting the doors finally opened and Danzig emerged, his dark brows drawn down low, an irritable frown on his waxy face.

Iversson swivelled away from Marino and impaled her subordinate with a gimlet stare _"Danzig!"_ She said, astonished.

"Professor."

"What are you doing in there?" She said sharply.

He looked almost petrified to see her. Despite the air of superiority he cultivated she knew he found her intimidating. Then he managed to remember not to look like a scared little rabbit and drew himself up "You're not permitted in this area." He said.

"You don't tell me where I can and can't go – I _hired_ you!" She snapped.

"Maybe you did, but that was a long time ago. I've left you behind."

"I was leading a government unit working on matters of national security when you were still squeezing your pimples in high school biology class!"

One of the guards had to stifle a snort of laughter at this. Danzig glared up at her resentfully, having to crane his neck to look her in the eye. She realised she was actually several inches taller than him, even without the heels.

"What are you keeping in there?" She was boiling with fury.

"That's not your concern Professor." His voice was shivery with anger "Why don't you go back to playing brood mother to your crossbreed nursery upstairs?"

"Is it dangerous Danzig?" She said coldly "I hope you're taking it a lot more seriously than you take the work you do for me, because if not you risk putting all our lives on the line!"

"That's not your concern Professor, all you need to know is that I have Ms Weyland's full support."

"You went behind my back?"

"Over your head actually," He gave a sardonic little smile, recovering some of his usual arrogance "She is one hundred percent behind me. I think she feels your attitude is rather… 'old guard'? You've been rendered obsolete."

Iversson was appalled "You're making jokes?" She said "You think this is about some little internal power struggle? I've always suspected you did not really understand the sensitivity required for the work we do, but I've never realised until now how right I was!"

"Oh spare me the grade school morality lecture!" He sneered "Your problem Professor is that you don't even understand the things we can do now with technology! With hormones! I can control things in a way _you_ never could!"

"You can't control living things that way! You're gambling with people's lives!" She all but shouted at him "We have a staff of some forty to fifty people working here, not to mention the children – they're only five years old for God's sake! If you want to play around with dangerous alien lifeforms you can't afford even one error!"

"Oh Professor," He was smiling now, seeing her in distress, thinking he now had the upper hand "You can't make new life without a little bit of collateral damage, I'd have thought you of all people would know that."

There were few things he could have said that would have hurt her more "I don't think I realised before how completely amoral you are."

"'Fear is the mother of morality' Professor, don't you know that? And I'm not afraid anymore."

"You haven't heard the end of this you stupid boy," She whispered "You had better make damn sure nothing gets past you! You had better double and triple check every detail, because if anything goes wrong – if those children get hurt in _any way –_ I'll see to it everyone knows who's to blame. You and Weyland won't get away with this! Even if it means I go down too, I'll take you with me!"


	22. Chapter 22

Danzig watched the Professor stalk away. He was on fire with shame and frustration. She had humiliated him! Oh yes, he'd been able to summon up some confident words, but underneath he was mortified. And to make his mortification complete Marino had witnessed it all. Even now Danzig could see him struggling to keep the smirk off his face.

He turned on his heel and slammed back into the containment cell, so angry he was scarlet in the face and shaking. He had always suspected that Iversson did not have a high opinion of him professionally, but to have her tell him so directly was excruciating "And worse, she did it in front of those meathead security guards!"

More serious than that she had threatened him, threatened to expose the work he'd been doing with the Hive and Danzig certainly did not want the authorities taking an interest in his activities down here. They might start asking questions about people going missing; people who'd made trouble for Weyland Corp – or threatened to – and who'd suddenly been spirited away and never seen again. It wasn't like he'd wanted to do it, but once he'd realised it was not possible for the Hive to reproduce without living hosts he'd also seen the opportunity for the corporation to, as it were, kill two birds with one stone. He knew he had Diana Weyland's tacit approval, although … although now he came to think about it he realised now she had never directly authorised his activities "She didn't want to risk being implicated if any of this ever came out!"

This realisation opened the door for yet another unwelcome epiphany "If there were to be any sort of official inquiry she could easily say I had acted alone …" A thrill of panic ran all through him "I'd be hung out to dry, just imagine the kind of things they'd write about me, imagine the kind of sentence I'd get…"

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. Iversson might have her short-comings but he knew that she was a woman of her word.

"That dried-up old harpy must surely have contacts in the defence department and the security services from way back," He ground his teeth together "Probably all it would take would be one phone call from her… and it'll all be blamed on me!"

He bit his lip hard as he stared through the glass at his darlings, the fruit of three years of ceaseless work. To top it all off, he had missed moment of the birth of his new creations; they had already emerged from their hosts "I have to stop her, she can't be allowed to tell a soul."

As he watched the final twitching throes die away an idea suddenly struck him. He wondered how he could have been so stupid as to not realise it before. He had before him the perfect means to rid himself of Iversson. Perhaps there might be some unintended consequences, perhaps some …accidental deaths… but it was a small price to pay for neutralising the threat she posed.

"Anybody else would do the same in my place," He told himself as he went to dismiss the guards "When you think about it logically, I haven't really got a choice. It's self-defence!"

* * *

As the elevator door slid shut, Iversson leaned heavily against the wall and tried to regain her composure. So Lex had been right and the exotic had not been lying, there was some kind of alien lifeform kept here secretly from her! Something horribly hostile and worse, Danzig was in charge of keeping it contained!

Weyland had clearly chosen deliberately not to tell her and that in itself was ominous. The Iversson suspected her employer had wanted someone easily controlled, with a flexible conscience.

She put her hands together and offered a silent plea to the cosmos. She herself was a nonbeliever, had been for years, but her parents had been churchgoers. In times of stress she often found herself pleading with some non-specific deity to intercede, even though it hadn't made any difference when Isaac - when her son. - had been ill.

A moment's reflection stabilised her mood and as the lift hissed open on the floor above she was calm. She knew that she must go now and make sure the exotic was subdued and secure so she went, operating on automatic.

She kept going over the confrontations she'd had with Danzig and with Weyland, trying to make sense of all the evening's horrible realisations. It seemed the other woman had been deceiving her and using her all along. Even worse it also seemed likely that, if left in Weyland's custody, Isaac had a lifetime of miserable servitude ahead of him "Even more miserable than it is now," She thought guiltily "I can't pretend everything I've done has been in his best interests. I should have thought about him but in many ways I've been treating him as much like a product as Diana. I named him for my dead son but I should have served his memory better. The only question is… what am I going to do about it?"

As she entered the fiendishly hot holding cell she heard music. You could always tell who was on duty down here the moment you opened the door by the type of music being played. Of course Iversson would not have allowed them to play any sort of noise in the cell where the exotic was held – that would be cruel – but she could think of no excuse to forbid it in the outer chamber, try though she might. The nights were long down here.

Danzig would have been listening to modern classical, Ludovico Eiaudi or some other composer with a European sounding name. Tonight she could hear the mournful tones of Willie Nelson so she knew Lloyd must be on duty.

Sure enough, there he was sitting at the monitoring desk, all hairy calves and bare grubby feet up on the console in his long cotton shorts. He was eating microwave pizza.

"Has there been any change since the little upset earlier?" She asked him.

"Nah, he's cool." Lloyd told her, licking melted cheese off his fingertips "Settled right down after she left. Barely moved since."

"Good." She nodded "I'm going to go in and check on him now."

She swiped her card and the door to the holding cell slid open silently. As she stepped over the threshold she felt the same thrill of visceral fear she always felt at being in the same room with the exotic. She shivered despite the heat, then shrugged telling herself she was being silly. He couldn't move. Even if she'd taken off the restraints he'd have collapsed onto the floor.

She did a few routine checks on him, took his pulse; took a blood sample. He was hooked up to instruments but you soon learned that they weren't a substitute for human intuition. She'd been in there for about thirty to forty minutes, absorbed in looking over the printouts of his heart-rate and brainwaves when she noticed a change, some difference she couldn't immediately quantify but which made her tingle with sudden alarm.

Immediately she looked over at the exotic. He was just where she'd left him, looking as if he were asleep, eyes closed, jaws twitching occasionally but otherwise still. Then she turned towards the viewing window and saw through the glass that the door into the monitoring room was open and through it she could see into the darkness beyond "But why?" She thought "The door is supposed to remain shut to keep the heat in."

Looking through the glass she realised she could no longer see Lloyd. He wasn't sitting at the monitoring desk anymore.

She frowned "He must have gone out and left the door open. I'm going to have to have another talk with him."

She was about to go through to the control room and give him the third degree when suddenly without any warning, a huge shocking gout of blood sprayed across the thick glass of the viewing window.

Iversson screamed in shock. She stood for a moment frozen to the spot, her heartbeat just a whirr of terror. She couldn't see even where the blood had come from.

Finally she decided she had to try and find out what was going on. The door between the two rooms was automatically locked, whatever or whoever had done this couldn't get to her without a pass.

She edged forward, all the time dreading what she might see. As she came closer to the window she was surprised to see more people in the room – or at least she thought they were people at first. Humanoid figures crouched low on the floor over another shape. As she watched one of them looked up and she realised it wasn't human at all.

A man-sized thing raised its sleek, eyeless face and drew back thin lips to snarl at her, bloodied from … oh God! She pressed her hand distractedly against her mouth. Long spindly limbs carried the creature effortlessly forward, like a huge spider. Slowly at first, then with a burst of horrible speed it rushed towards the glass, knocking its long smooth head against it with a resounding clunk. It staggered backwards for an instant, dazed, and then lunged again with the same result.

Then it drew back a little and approached the window more cautiously.

Iversson felt sick with terror as it opened its chisel toothed maw, investigating, trying to find a way to get at her. Its jaws left a bloody trail smeared across the glass as it sniffed and tasted the surfaces for a weak spot.

These must be the monsters Lex had warned her about; Iversson clenched her hands together desperately.

"I'm trapped!" She thought "Danzig must have set these things on me, maybe Weyland too. It's too much of coincidence that they could have escaped by accident the very same night I asked about them!" She looked around the room desperately for a way of escape. Now she could see the first creature had been joined by another one and together they were scratching their long thin hands over the surface of the glass.

"They will find a way through … eventually." Said a deep, grating voice behind her "They are not as … stupid as they look."

She spun round; the exotic! In her fright, she'd forgotten all about him.

"You can speak!" She said, astonished.

"When it …pleases me." The diabolical yellow eyes watched her coolly. His English was a little halting but totally understandable. Even through the fear she was stunned. Her mouth opened and shut a few times whilst her brain struggled to catch up. At last she said "Are you sure they can get through the glass? It's very resilient."

"Yes." He said "They are also… resilient. And they have a few other… tricks."

Considering that if those things got in here he was unable even to move, he seemed remarkably calm about it.

"What tricks?" She asked weakly.

"Acid blood. It can eat through most… things. They throw it… around sometimes. Or just climb through… the ventilation system." He raised his eyes significantly to the large air vent covered by a thick metal grille high up on the wall "Once they know …prey is in here they will not… give up."

"I see," She swallowed "So we can't just lie low?" She had just caught sight behind the creature of what they were doing to Lloyd, or what remained of him. Her stomach lurched and she wanted to look away but somehow she couldn't.

"No…they have seen you." He eyed her speculatively "Of course… if you release me human, **I** could kill them… easily."

"Release you?"

"I do not know if it is … possible but … make me move again" His eyes glowed "Take this …thing out of my spine - "

She shrank away from him at the thought "How do I know you won't kill me?"

"Female, if you release me I promisssse I will not… let you be harmed. But I suggest you… decide quickly."

At the window there were now three of the creatures sniffing around the edges of the glass, trying to find a way through.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You do not… believe me? Hrrrmmm that is… unfortunate for us…both."

She stared at him, paralysed herself by indecision.

"Of courssse," He said sardonically "You could wait and ssssee if … you get a better offer from them?"

The thought of setting him loose made her blood want to freeze in her veins but if she didn't… she was going to die anyway. Whatever Faustian pact he was offering, it gave her a better chance than waiting to be disembowelled by those things.

At that moment, one of the monsters reared up and slammed itself into the window again. Even through the sound deadening glass the noise was audible and tiny little hairline cracks began to appear; spurring her into action.

Without another word she darted around behind him and opened the panel in the back of the table that gave access to the back of his neck where the spinal implant was situated. Iversson tried to steady her nerves.

"The movement and feeling should come back almost immediately," She told him "But you might feel a bit weak at first." She didn't want to think about what would happen if she slipped. If his spine got damaged the movement might not come back at all.

"You had better hope for …your sake that I do not."

Holding her breath to keep from shaking she pulled the implant gently, the twin spikes sliding easily out of his flesh. Then she stepped back out of his reach. For a second or two nothing happened and she worried that she might have paralyzed him permanently after all. Then to her mingled relief and horror, his fingers twitched, then flexed.

Iversson swallowed, realising that he was still held fast by the metal restraints. She was going to have to unlock them. Before she could even make a move towards him he made a purring, clicking noise deep in his throat. The muscles in his arms, neck and shoulders strained for a moment; then the metal bands across his upper body burst apart with a groan and ping of tortured metal. She backed away even further, appalled at how easily he'd been able to break free the moment the implant was removed.

"Yesssss!" He said softly to himself, stretching and then bending and uncurling his arms "That feelsssss…goooood." He purred. Reaching down he pulled at the remaining metal restraints on his legs, wrenching them from their settings "You have no idea human… no conccception… of how good it feelsssss …to move again!"

He swung his legs over onto the floor. She expected him to collapse then and there or at least stagger but he did neither, he just stood up slowly, stretching his arms and legs to their fullest extent. His movements were perhaps a little stiff but otherwise he seemed fine.

She was astonished. She had expected him to be shaking and feeble but somehow he seemed to have suffered no ill effects whatsoever from the many long days of forced inertia, apart from looking a little pale and hollow-eyed. "His species must be even more hardy than I imagined," Thought the analytical part of her mind that never quite switched off, even when the rest of her was in fear of her life "Is it the denser muscle tissue or a better circulatory and nervous system I wonder?"

Larger cracks had now begun to appear in the viewing window as the two creatures took turns battering their heads and fists against it. She wouldn't have thought those spindly limbs capable of delivering such heavy blows but they were making short work of the reinforced glass.

She looked back at the exotic. He had finished yanking off tubes and wires and sensors from himself and was now stretching and testing his muscles with an air of one who has just woken up from a long and satisfying sleep.

She cleared her throat "I don't want to rush you but…"

His sulphurous gaze came up and he spread his jaws. At first she thought it was a threat but seeing the expression in his eyes she could almost swear he was grinning at her.

"Oh … yes," He said " _Them!_ "

He reached over and tore loose one of the metal restraint bands that had been holding him down, frightening the way it came off in his grip so easily. Using both hands he bent the curved metal, making it straighter. Then he held it up and frowned, testing the weight of it, swinging it like a sword.

Walking unhurriedly to stand beneath the ventilation shaft he reached up and ripped the heavy four foot square metal vent grille from the wall. He forced his fingers through the metal lattice, widening the holes in it so that he could hold it like a shield.

"Get …behind something, human," He said "If you know what is … good for you." Iversson didn't need telling twice. She darted behind the huge heavy slab of a table that he'd been restrained on, the only piece of cover in the room.

At that moment, one of the creatures smacked into the glass with such force that the whole thing crazed with a network of little silver fissures. At the next blow, with a noise like several decades worth of bad luck, the window shattered and collapsed. Tiny sparkling fragments cascaded onto the floor.

Now the glass was no longer shutting out the sound she could hear their breath hissing between their clenched razor teeth. One of them lifted its head and gave a high pitched shriek as they prowled into the room and Iversson flinched at the awful sound – metal nails down a chalkboard.

As the three stealthy shapes advanced on him, the exotic hefted his improvised weaponry, his mandibles bent into a nasty grin.

"Come to **Daddy**!"


	23. Chapter 23

To Iversson, what happened next was a blur, as the nearest thing lunged towards the exotic he swung the makeshift sword, catching it right between the gaping set of razor teeth. The blade wasn't especially sharp but evidently it didn't need to be as the force of the blow took the creature's lower jaw clean off. Her heart did a funny little stutter to see the way the droplets melted through the metal floor and she could taste the acrid steam in the back of her throat.

"Acid blood!" She hadn't quite believed him.

As it toppled forward into the smoking puddle he used the vent shield to hit the second nearest with devastating force, sending it flying across the room. As the third leapt towards him with claws extended, the exotic drove the edge of the metal vent cover into its neck slamming it back against the wall. It shrieked and fought to free itself but he kept it pinned there, pushing with all his strength, trying to drive the metal edge through its throat. It fought madly, lashing around with its long limbs and he grabbed the threshing tail to keep from being skewered.

As he was focused on the third monster the second flipped upright in an unnatural little movement and began to advance on him. Tail upraised and lips drawn back in a snarl it crept up behind him as he used the blunt metal edge of the vent cover to slowly crush the other creature's throat.

Iversson half rose to her feet in alarm. If it killed him, she would be left on her own with at least one of those things.

She was about to shout a warning to him, when everything seemed to happen all at once; there was a final scrunch of bone and gristle as the exotic messily severed the third creature's head. A wisp of vapour bloomed as its acid blood splattered across the floor. At almost the same moment the second finally leapt and the exotic whipped round to deal it a swiping blow with the smouldering edge of the vent cover, snapping its head to one side. He followed it as it fell backwards, smashing it with the improvised shield and then brought the curved metal strip slashing round again, leaping backwards to avoid a gout of corrosive blood.

He threw the dissolving sword aside as he and the creature circled one another, keeping the vent shield between them. Its obscene head wove from side to side, trying to find an opening to attack him again. Burning blood pattered down like cursed rain onto the metal deck, fizzing and smoking where it fell.

The exotic now had his back against the table where she was hiding. Without taking his eyes off the creature he reached behind him, groping blindly for another metal band to use as a weapon. The creature's skeletal frame tensed, ready to attack. Just as his hand closed around one of the thick metal bands and wrenched it loose, the creature gave a piercing scream and flew at him. He battered it back with the vent cover, intent on keeping the flying acid droplets away from his skin and as it fell back he brought the curved metal band slicing down onto the smooth forehead, embedding it firmly in the top half of its skull, slicing right down to the jawline. Its mouth hung open for a moment as if in surprise, then as he yanked the blade free it toppled sideways, the nasty chemical stink permeating the air as the spreading pool of blood ate through the floor.

The alien dropped the smoking metal shard with a clang and turned to look through the viewing window to see if there were any more of the creatures lurking. None appeared.

Iversson emerged cautiously from behind the slab "My God," She shuddered "What are they?"

He shook his head like a shrug, unconcerned. She couldn't fathom how he could be so calm when just seconds ago he had been fighting for his life

"The hard meat. Do you know nothing, human?"

"Alexa told me they were here. I wasn't sure whether to believe her." Iversson was thoughtful, so Lex had been right about Diana Weyland … about everything.

The exotic was immediately alert "Lexssss? You know where… she is?"

Iversson was about to tell him when there was a crackle from the intercom system in the control room, a voice speaking. She stepped warily through the ravaged window frame and he followed her.

Lloyd was gone.

"Jeanette?" It was Weyland, her china-doll face clearly visible on one of the screens on the desk "What's going on down there?"

She glanced at the exotic. She could see his hackles rise, his mane of plaits virtually lifting off his neck in anger as he recognised her employer. Iversson scarcely felt any less hostile. "I think you know perfectly well what's going on." She said crisply "You tried to kill me by setting those things on me. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm still alive."

Weyland frowned "What are you talking about?"

"Those other extra-terrestrial subjects that you declined to discuss with me? Three of them just attacked me in the holding cell!"

Her employer's already ghostly features looked suddenly cadaverous "The Hive are loose?"

"So you _do_ know what I'm talking about!" Iversson "What have you and Danzig done!? Are you mad? Don't you realise those things could get over to Island South? You'll all be killed. And what about Isaac? What about Selim?"

There was a pause, then Weyland regained some of her impressive poise "I'm sending the security staff down to seal us off from North." She said calmly "So it's only you who need worry about them, incidentally how _have_ you manage to survive thus far?"

At this point, the exotic pushed Iversson to one side and leaned close to the camera "Do you know who I… am, sickly, white maggot?" He said in tones of chilling menace "You darrrrre… imprison me. You put my son and my female in mortal danger! You had better start to… run because when I catch you … I will tear you into a thousand bloody scraps. Or perhaps… I will give you to the hard meat, if any remain… alive when I am finished!"

With that he reached out and ripped the camera from its mounting above the desk. Weyland's voice came through the speaker again, angry and frightened "Professor? Answer me! What have you done? Iversson!?"

Then there was static, then nothing.

Slowly, very slowly, the exotic turned round from the console. He fixed her with a murderous glare, as if seeing her for the first time " _You_ are Professor Iversssssson?" He said.

* * *

In South Control Diana Weyland sat back from the intercom her smooth face livid "She let him free!" She hissed "The stupid woman! And Danzig - "

Then she brought herself up short, her thin hand pressed to her mouth.

Her staff watched her apprehensively. Unlike her father, their former CEO, Ms Weyland was usually outwardly controlled. Charles Weyland's rages – like his infidelities – had been legendary, but they had been equally short-lived. His temper would flare up without warning and then subside just as suddenly, particularly against subordinates. He might fire you on the spur of the moment but if you were lucky he might hire you back the next day.

His daughter was an entirely different kind of monster. She had never been heard to speak in tones that would not have been acceptable at the politest society gathering but her enmity – once invoked – was implacable, bitter and poisonous. Dark rumours circulated amongst the corporation's employees about what happened to people who displeased her.

"How did the Hive manage to get out?" She demanded of Rathbone, her head of security "Have you heard anything from Danzig, or Marino over on North?"

"Marino's on his way up here now." He replied.

"What?!"

"He says Danzig dismissed him and Pascoe, told them they wouldn't be needed for the rest of the evening. He said he had direct authorisation from you."

"And they just believed him without checking with me first?"

"I guess they figured they didn't need to." Rathbone had the grace to look a little uncomfortable "They've always been told to follow his orders without question so – "

"Yes, I see." She held up a hand impatiently and then seemed to be thinking again.

"Ma'am?" He said quietly "Do you want me to send the guards down to North Terminus like you told Professor Iversson?"

She nodded "As quickly as possible. And make sure they're heavily armed."

"Well Ma'am, my guys are already packing super strength tranquiliser dart launchers and pulse rifles. Do I have your authorisation to use lethal force?"

"Against the exotic?" Her brow creased slightly "Absolutely not. I want him taken alive – is that clear?"

"Ma'am, with respect, that may not be possible."

"It had better be possible Rathbone." She said frostily "That animal killed my father so now I'm going to use him to make us the world leaders in military technology – stealth and biotech – whether he wants to or not. Recapture him; I don't care how you do it. This time I'm going to have his spinal cord cut just to make sure there won't be any repeat escapes."

"What about the… other subjects?"

"Lethal force. There are plenty more where they came from. You're head of security, make this complex secure!"

* * *

Lex could not rest. Ever since they'd shoved her back into her cell she'd prowled the room distractedly, the wailing wind outside an echo of her state of mind. The hard meat were here. They might be caged right now but experience told her it would only be a matter of time before they were free... every sense she possessed had gone onto hyper-alert, every sound magnified.

She was beginning to regret telling Iversson "What was I thinking?" She berated herself "She caught me at a weak moment and I just blurted it out to her like an idiot, I let my guard down! I still don't really know if I can trust her!"

She knew that it had been a loss of control on her part. Seeing Scar paralysed in that room … she hadn't really been thinking clearly.

"I've just been sitting here like a dumb beast," She thought "When Selim got ill it's like I lost all ability to resist, I let them use him to control me but now he's so much better, now I know those _things_ are here…"

She stood at the window, staring out over the dark, heaving water "Now I know what they've done to Scar I just can't sit back and let it go on." She thought "I have to do something to get us all out, all of us. And Isaac... "

She bit her lip hard as she thought about of that stubborn, confused, angry boy abandoned amongst the monsters "I've started to see him as mine," She swallowed down a lump in her throat "Genetically he _is_ mine. He and Selim are like brothers, they could be twins! When I get out of here … when **we** get out of here, I'm taking him with us."

Her eyes narrowed in the darkness. There had to be some way she could break free. The security wasn't even as tight as it had been at the Nevada facility. There was no too way mirror they could watch her through; there was a security camera – just one – but there weren't nearly so many guards. She wondered if anyone was even watching the feeds. The Company seemed to rely on the complicated biometric ID technology that you were required to pass through at various doorways throughout the complex. In her experience, technology was rarely a substitute for manpower.

"I had Scar's help breaking out of Nevada," She thought "Even though I didn't know he was coming to bust me out, he did. Guess I'll have to think of a way to come to _his_ rescue this time around."

Looking around the room, her eye was drawn irresistibly to the ventilation shaft.

* * *

As the exotic stared at her, Iversson felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. Something about the way he said her name told her all she needed to know. She had to force herself to hold his gaze "Yes, I am Professor Iversson."

He straightened up to his full intimidating height, towering over her "It was _you_ who… told Lex all those lies?"

She was genuinely bewildered "What lies?"

"You told her our offspring would be born weak and dangerously ill!" He snarled, advancing on her "A deformed monstrosity, not able to live unaided – **do not tell me that you have FORGOTTEN!"**

She almost jumped physically as his voice rose to an ear splitting pitch, took a pace backwards and then another.

"I wasn't lying," She rallied herself, sensing somehow that if she appeared weak it would make things worse "At the time I thought it the most likely outcome – but I can see now I was wrong. I only said that to Lex because I wanted to help her!"

"Help her?!" He cut her off furiously "Do you have **any idea** of the distress you have caused her? She has **never** **been able to forget it!** " She noticed with in a detached way that his English was not so halting when he was angry.

"If you kill me," She said "You'll never find Lex and Selim. Don't you want to get to them before those things do?"

He pressed his hands to the sides of his head in frustration, as if he wanted to shut out the things she was saying "Do you think I cannot **mak-k-ke** you tell me?"

"You promised me you wouldn't hurt me, remember?" She said tensely.

"I promised **myself** that if ever I got my hands on you I would make you suffer, you deserve a surfeit of agony! You brought the hard meat here! You paralysed me!"

"I never knew anything about these creatures before tonight, I swear." Iversson continued to hold his gaze steadily as he closed in on her "And I cured your son, I suppose you don't count that as a debt you owe me?"

He looked at her, talons curling and uncurling, undecided. Then the growl in his throat got louder and he seized her, pinning her up against the wall. He leaned down slowly so that his face was level with hers, his jaws only a few inches away. Iversson stiffened her spine and forced herself not to flinch.

"Tell me scientissssst!" He snarled "Tell me **why** should I not rip you apart?

Iversson was no stranger to facing bellowing male anger, but this was a whole different level of terror. Her knees wanted to give way under her and it took almost superhuman resolve not to let them. She made herself look him in the eye, summoning all the courage she had and her most ringing, authoritative voice.

"You don't intimidate me you big, ugly bully!" She snapped "I saved Selim's life and I only told Alexa what I thought was the truth; I don't care whether you believe me or not – you can back off right now!"

The exotic blinked in surprise and released his hold on her, though he did not move away but stood for a moment, regarding her between narrowed lids.

"You have courage… female," He said finally "I concede that… but you lie! I can see I **do** …intimidate you." This last said in a growl so low, the Professor felt herself break out in gooseflesh.

"Well, I'd be a lot more comfortable if you put some clothes on!" She said, trying to maintain the attitude of defiance.

His brow wrinkled for a moment and then he erupted into harsh, deafening laughter – at least she fervently hoped that's what it was. He didn't seem at all disconcerted, just continued to stand there, much too close for her liking.

"It was your… minions who took-k-k my armour," He said finally, straightening up, "So _you_ … go and fetch it for me." His jaws spread in what she guessed to be a grin, not much less terrifying than his face when he was angry "I am not exactly eager to… face the hard meat again with only the… weapons bestowed on me at birth," His grin got wider "Fearsome though they arrrre!"

Feeling almost faint with relief at his sudden change of mood Iversson edged round him and walked quickly to the giant, metal storage drawer that was set into the wall at the back of the monitoring room. She'd been meaning to catalogue all his armour and weapons and send them to the lab upstairs but hadn't yet got round to it, fortunately as it turned out. Swiping her pass she opened it and waved a hand in his direction. "It's all in there," She told him "Help yourself."

Trying to fight off a minor heart attack, she leaned against the wall as he retrieved his possessions.

"Where is my ship?" He asked, strapping his armour and weapons systematically into place.

"On the top deck of this Island." She breathed, her pulse finally seemed to be slowing to something like normal "We airlifted it over as we didn't know how to work the controls."

He snorted, it might have been scorn or laughter or both. Then he frowned "My wristcom is …not here," He said "Where is it?"

"It's in my office," She said, guessing at once what he meant. It was the one thing she had not wanted to leave down here, knowing what a powerful bomb it was – powerful enough to destroy this whole complex "Up on Island South, I can show you when we get up there –"

" _We_?" He turned to look at her, holding his mask in both hands "Human, _we_ are at an end. Once you have told me where to find my female and my offsssspring our … association is finished."

"You promised you would protect me!"

"And I have. You are … unhurt, are you not?"

Iversson shot a glance into the corridor outside, dark and dank. The creatures' acid blood must have eaten through some electrical connections somewhere because even the lights were flickering now. She shivered; terrifying though she found the exotic, the thought of going out there without him scared her even more.

"How am I supposed to get out of here?" She said "The whole place could be crawling with those things!"

"That is not … as you humans would say… my problem."

Iversson thought quickly. "No you have to take me, you'll get lost!" He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her "This place is a maze; you'll never get to Lex and Selim in time without my help!"

He considered for a moment arms folded; then he gave a jerk of his head towards the door "Show me."

"Not so fast," She said "If I lead you to them I want something in return; you have to promise you'll help me escape from here."

He made an impatient movement "Very well but – "

"And Isaac, we have to go and fetch him!"

"You mean…. the facsimile?" He said curiously "The copy you have made of my son?"

"How do you know I made him?" She demanded.

One mandible curled up in what could have been a sneer "Just because I am pretty," He said with heavy irony "Does not mean I am …ssstupid. I saw you with him, I… guessssed. Besides now I know you are… Iverssssson… who else would …create this profane replica?"

"He's not profane or just a replica," She said indignantly "He's an innocent child, a person in his own right! Genetically he's just as much your son as Selim! You should _want_ to protect him!"

"He is nothing to me."

"Well he's not nothing to me!" Iversson was suddenly furious "He's just a little boy and i you won't help him I won't help you!"

"I do not see why you… care. He is certainly… nothing to do with you, genetically… or otherwise."

"Because I love him." She said firmly "I don't care if you don't understand. Just say you'll help us."

He made another movement like a shrug and pushed his mask onto his face "Whatever you say scientissst. Just… stop wasssting my time!" He made his huge hands into fists and extended the jagged triple blades at his wrists.

Then the lights went out.


	24. Chapter 24

Everybody froze as Control Room South went black.

"What the hell's going on?" spat Weyland.

"Should just be temporary, Ma'am," Rathbone said in the darkness "The backup power will kick in any second."

Almost as he finished speaking the lights burst into renewed life and the monitors flickered on.

"What's causing it?" She demanded.

"I'm sure the power cut is just a blip." He reassured her confidently "And we've got our own backup generators over here."

"Ma'am?" Himura, one of the security staff, looked round from one of the monitors "The power on Island North isn't coming back on. Something's happened to one of their backups. They've got emergency lighting but that's about it. No heat, no power."

She looked up at the security chief again "How bad is it?"

Rathbone suddenly looked a lot less sure of himself "Well Ma'am if the power on North doesn't come back on that means the containment systems won't be operational. The electronic locking mechanisms, the other deterrents – they will no longer be working."

She knew better than he did what that meant. The Hive… without the artificial heat they'd start coming up here, drawn to the warmth… and the food.

"Ma'am, my guys are on their way down to the South Terminus armed with automatic weapons and flamethrowers as extra insurance, to make sure nothing gets through. They're under orders to seal and barricade the doors."

"Well then why aren't _you_ with them?"

Himura looked round from his screen again, clearly very unhappy to be the bearer of bad news once again "Ms Weyland? It's the feed from Woods' room, she's gone!"

"What?!"

Take a look Ma'am."

She stared over his shoulder at the screen that showed the room from above. It was obviously empty, the bed vacant apart from the rumpled bedclothes.

"No,"She whispered "I'm not letting her go to join forces with the exotic so they can escape with those boys; I won't surrender any of our assets!"

She spun round to her chief of security "Get down there _right now_! Find her and bring her back. Kicking and screaming if necessary; get this situation under control!"

* * *

Iversson's breath caught in her throat as she and the alien were plunged into stygian darkness.

For a moment she squeezed her eyes shut in terror, trying unsuccessfully to blot out the mental image of thin shapes rising up behind her in the pitch black, clawed hands reaching out to grip her ankles…

Then the crimson glare of emergency lighting blinked on, lighting up the exotic still stood in the doorway. He hadn't moved a muscle. She found him fractionally less awful to look at now he'd got his mask on; she just tried not to think about what was under it.

"Come." He said, jerking his chin at her again as he turned to go. It was clearly not a request. She swallowed hard and followed him out into the corridor, not wanting to get left behind. In the dim light Island North looked worse than usual, even more dank and inhospitable.

"So where … are they? Lexssss and my son?"

"We have to get to the elevator," She said "Or the stairs," He turned to look at her "Get to the upper levels. It's further down this corridor."

They carried on in silence for a few minutes. It was a long way to the elevator. Iversson noticed the exotic made absolutely no noise as he moved. She felt an idiotic rush of relief she'd chosen to wear trousers and flats today rather than a skirt and heels so she wasn't freezing cold or clicking foolishly along, advertising their presence. She stayed as close to him as she could.

She wondered if she dared speak to him. Though he was a menacing presence the scientist in her had many questions. She had been astonished to hear him speak and even more astonished that he seemed to be so articulate, even to have some grasp of human idiom and even a sense of humour (better than some humans she knew of).

"I suppose six years of living with someone would be enough to learn their language and mannerisms," She mused "But they must talk to each other _a lot_! Much more than I imagined. Alexa gave Weyland to understand he could barely speak at all."

There were a million and one things she wanted to know, but top of the list was whether the accusations Lex had made against him were true.

If he really was a sadistic maniac then she needed to somehow keep him away from Isaac but if he and Lex did have some sort of understanding… then maybe he was capable of being reasoned with.

"I don't think I believe he's been holding her prisoner." She thought, as they crept through the maze of tunnels "Of course it's possible, but somehow it just doesn't ring true. In Nevada she virtually admitted they were lovers!"

As she stared at the huge wall of muscle and armour that was his back the words congealed on her tongue "If he's such a sadist why didn't he hurt me earlier? And why would he be so enraged by her distress? Now I come to think about it, I can't imagine Alexa remaining anybody's captive for long, not even his."

* * *

When Rathbone reached the corridor outside the prisoner's room he motioned to Vincent to get on the other side of the doorway. Hefting his dart gun he peered through the little window in the top of the door trying to see into the room. All he could see was the floor and the messed up bed, tangled sheets hanging down onto the floor.

He unlocked it using his pass card and biometrics and, holding it ajar with his foot, nodded to Vincent signalling for the other man to cover him. Then, kicking it wide he went in, swinging round instinctively to check the corners, moving backwards to check under the bed: Rathbone and Vincent were both ex-CIA so they did all these things by rote.

Then he noticed the vent was open, the cover sitting on the floor underneath. His brow crinkled in puzzlement. There was no way that she should be able to reach up there, let alone climb in. But then he remembered, she was a climber wasn't she? And the covers on South weren't all that securely fastened. North was where the tight security was, but surely the vent wasn't wide enough to admit an adult body?

He approached the bed, the hanging blankets obscuring his view underneath, eyes still flickering back to the dark opening of the vent. He ripped the sheet back out of the way.

At that moment her leg lashed out from under the bed, hooking his ankles out from under him. He was taken by surprise and fell hard, hitting his elbow on the floor as she threw herself at him, snatching his gun out of his holster; not the dart gun which had skidded away across the room, but the semiautomatic. Wrapping one arm around his throat she pressed the barrel to his chin and clicked the safety off. The whole thing took just a couple of seconds "Holy fucking Christ, she's fast!" He thought redundantly.

"Drop your weapon." She said flatly as Vincent came through the door "Or I'll redecorate this room with blood splatter."

Rathbone's CIA trained brain was rapidly calculating his chances "There's two of us and only one of her. Vincent's a decent marksman; he's got a good chance of hitting her, but not before she can kill me! It'd take a few minutes for the sedatives to work anyway."

"Vincent!" He said sharply "Back off, put your gun down!"

The other man hesitated for a moment and then lowered his weapon.

"All the way down," She said "On the ground and slide it over to me, both of them. Come on hotshot – hurry up!"

Vincent dropped both guns and slowly raised his hands.

"And don't even think of going for your radios either of you," She added "Drop them on the floor and kick them away. Now, get over there, in the corner."

Vincent moved back warily, standing with his back against the wall beneath the vent shaft.

"Whatever you're thinking," She said next to Rathbone's ear "Forget it. Because I will kill you."

Rathbone considered this. He _had_ been thinking about trying to overpower her but it was clear she wasn't grandstanding – she was just telling him honestly what would happen if he didn't comply.

The only option left was negotiation "Ms Woods, think about this for a minute." He said "Once we get out of this room there's a whole staff of guys like me, are you gonna fight them all by yourself?"

"If they're all like you then it won't be a problem." Her voice was like velvet rubbed the wrong way, supremely confident.

It gave him the biggest hard-on possible in this suit.

"But just in case…" She pointed the gun up at the security camera and fired – the barrel was back at his throat before he even realised she'd moved it.

"Where's my spaceship tough guy?" She said as she pulled Rathbone backwards to the door "I know Weyland must have brought it here, she wouldn't leave it to be pillaged by someone else when she could make a profit!"

"Your spaceship?"

"Big, metal thing? Wings?" She gripped him rather harder than was comfortable "Stop stalling and just tell me where it is."

"It's over on the landing deck of Island North," He gasped "But you'll be captured before you ever get there – "

"I didn't ask you for advice, just information, so shut your trap and keep moving!"

There was a grunt from Vincent. As both their heads swivelled to look at him they saw him raise his hand, covered in something that looked black in darkness. His lips opened but no sound came, only a string of bloody saliva.

Before their horrified gaze a red flower appeared on the front of his white shirt, then blood blossomed as a thin spike emerged through his chest. Vincent spasmed, his eyes rolled around desperately.

Any residual arousal Rathbone felt fled as the other man twisted and writhed in agony. Then suddenly Vincent went limp and was thrown to one side as the creature emerged from the vent.

He felt Lex's arm tighten around his neck as she hauled him backwards, his feet stumbling. Then she released him and at the same time her hand came up holding the gun. Without even a flicker she shot the thing right in the forehead. Once. Twice. Three. Four times. There was a momentary pause – a rain of liquid poured down, tracing a sizzling pathway across the floor. Then it bared its teeth and lunged again. He just had time to be surprised that it could take four bullets and still keep coming, before she snatched up Vincent's gun and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him backwards out into the corridor and slamming the door shut, the automatic lock clacking closed. They both saw the heavy door shudder as the creature began to fling itself against it from the inside.

Rathbone gaped in horror, he'd seen these creatures before but only inside their huge secure, cell – he had no idea they were so tough.

"You put four bullets in that thing!" He said, aghast.

"Yeah, well you took my real weapons!" She looked at the semiautomatic in disgust, Vincent's gun she stuck in the waistband of her trousers "These aren't any damn use against them!"

As she turned to go but he grabbed hold of her arm "Woods, you're still a prisoner!"

She tore free of his grasp and punched him in the face. It wasn't like the ineffectual blows he'd come to expect from women but a solid roundhouse to the jaw that made him see stars

"That's funny," She said, keeping him covered with the semi-automatic "I was going to say the same to you! Now get up and start moving. I'm armed and you're not."

He pulled himself to his feet, his gaze being dragged back to the door; the metal was beginning the bend and bow under the weight of the bombardment from within. "Come on tough guy!" She gestured with the weapon "I need you to open doors for me, unless you want me to just cut off a hand and an eye to go with your pass card?"

"Where are we going?" He panted.

Her eyes were black on black.

"I have to get my boys."

* * *

Isaac was having a restless night. Ever since the night of the monster he'd found it hard to sleep. All he could think about was the creature getting loose and coming over here. Even when he did get to sleep his dreams were plagued by nightmares.

He'd also recently become aware of something else that had disturbed him; the monster had looked like Selim. Not his strange, horrible jaws but the rest of him … even though Isaac tried to forget, he couldn't. The monster's eyes, the shape of his face, the markings on his skin; all of these things Selim had just the same. Not only that, but it had been speaking the language that Selim spoke.

He had also come to another horrified realisation; "I look like Selim … so I must have those things just the same as the monster as well!"

Isaac was an intelligent boy, he knew all of this was significant somehow – it pointed to something but he couldn't think what.

"Maybe it means I'm a monster too." He thought miserably. "That's what Farrell says; that I'm a horrible freak."

Not having any real understanding of genetics he wasn't able to make the connection himself. Iversson had told him before about his "special DNA" as she called it, but she had never really explained to him what this meant. Isaac just thought it was some sort of natural gift he possessed, like being able to run fast or jump high.

Now he was lying in his bed thinking it all over. He wanted to go and see Selim to talk about all of this, but he was too worried and upset. The waves were very big tonight and he hated it when the sea got angry. He always thought it was a sign that something bad was going to happen.

He almost jumped out of his skin as the cover on the vent above his bed swung open with creaking slowness. He had a terrible vision of the monster pulling itself out of the dark opening, seizing him in its huge claws...

To his utter terror a pair of yellow eyes gleamed in the blackness. He waited, frozen, his heart fluttering, not daring to breath.

Then Selim's grinning face emerged from the shadows.

"Isaac!" He said "Where have you been? I got bored waiting for you!"

Isaac gasped "You scared the hell outta me!"

"Yautja should never admit to feeling afraid." His friend frowned.

"Well then I guess I'm not a … a … one of them!" Isaac said hotly "That's what you are! I never said _I_ was!" The fright had put him on the defensive. Even though he'd wanted to see his friend he found now he was losing his temper with him.

"You said you wanted to learn to speak it!"

"I changed my mind! I don't want to make that horrible noise!" Isaac turned around in bed and pulled the covers around himself. He didn't want anything to do with that monster. If that was the language it spoke, he didn't want to learn it.

"It is not horrible noise!" Selim said angrily.

"It **is**!"

"Take that **back!** "

"Oh - leave me alone!"

Selim looked bemusedly at the lump under the blankets. Now that his head was better he'd started to regain some of his confidence. He had climbed through caves and up tall trees and along cliff faces. His father wouldn't expect him to feel scared about going through some little tunnel. He'd been so pleased with himself for climbing through the vent and now Isaac was ruining it all.

He frowned and sat down on the bed, facing away from the other boy. If his friend was going to say nasty things about his other language then Selim didn't see why he should be the one to apologise.

Finally he said "Well if you're _not_ yautja, then what are you?"

"Just a… a …human! A normal person!"

"No you're not!" Selim said indignantly "Can't you tell the difference? My mother's a human! All the others here are humans, but you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"You are the same as me."

"No I'm not! I'm just like everyone else!"

"I thought you liked us being the same!" Selim said, puzzled and hurt.

"Well you thought wrong!" Isaac shouted back at him.

At that moment the door burst open and Farrell was suddenly in the room "I knew you two little rats were sneaking around!" He bellowed, seizing Selim by the arm "I don't care what Iversson or your loopy bitch mom says, you little mongrel bastards don't get to fuck around on my watch!"


	25. Chapter 25

Selim was boiling with rage, all fear consumed in the white heat of his anger "Nobody says such things of my mother!" He yelled "I will make you regret it soft meat!"

He lunged at Farrell but the man slapped him hard across the face, knocking him to the floor.

"Hey!" Isaac sprang to his feet, putting himself between Selim and the minder "You can't hit him, he had an operation! I'll tell my Mom!" Farrell grabbed him by the upper arms and slammed him into a wall.

"You ugly little mutant!" He said nastily "Your 'Mom' ain't coming back."

"What do you mean?" Isaac's face was a mask of distress.

"Iversson upset the boss lady, she's gone!" He drew a finger across his throat with a grin "So from now on you better start showing me more respect."

"I don't believe you!" Isaac screamed at him, almost hysterical "You … you … fucking liar!"

"Watch your goddamn mouth when you speak to me you little shit!" Farrell belted him hard across the face "That goes for you too," He spat at Selim "Unless you want me to knock some more sense into you!"

"I do not fear you, **coward**." Selim said in a low voice, straightening up from where the blow had knocked him down "My father has hit me harder than that in play. Let my friend go or you will regret it!"

Farrell did not release his grip on Isaac "Your father, huh?" He spat "No wonder the two of you are so hideous, being related to that big ugly motherfucker, Christ! I only saw him once and it almost made me lose my lunch!"

"Mei'Savir?" Selim's mouth dropped open "You saw him? Where is he?"

"In deep shit, that's where he is. The science team fucked him up so bad he can't even move." He gave a nasty laugh at Selim's look of shock "That's right! And without Iversson standing up for your spoiled ass, you and this little piece of shit here got a big surprise coming!"

Selim's eyes glowed bright yellow with rage as he glared up at Farrell. Though he lacked the quick temper of both his parents, he'd been learning to fight and hunt and kill ever since he was old enough to walk. Seeing his only friend treated like this on top of the awful insults against his mother and father had pushed him over the edge. Pure, adrenalin-fuelled instinct told him that here at last was the moment all the lessons had been leading up to.

A clicking growl rose up from deep in his throat. Farrell looked startled at the inhuman noise but still didn't loosen his grip on Isaac.

Then Selim attacked, moving so quickly the minder barely had time to realise what was happening. He sprang on the bed to gain height and then launched himself at Farrell, landing on the man's back, his claws leaving gory tracks. The minder dropped Isaac and flailed at him but Selim hung on grimly with one hand, raking the claws across his victim's face and hammered his fist against the back of his head. Farrell stumbled across the room like a drunk, flailing at his small aggressor. Then Isaac leaped to the defence of his friend. He wrapped himself around their tormentor's leg, razor talons slicing through clothing and digging into flesh as he tried to keep from being flung against the wall. As the minder bellowed in rage and tried to rip Isaac off him, Selim took advantage of the distraction to sink his needle teeth into Farrell's neck. The big man screamed as blood began to pour down the front of his shirt.

As Farrell staggered around, trying to fight both children, his legs got tangled round Isaac and he went down, striking his head hard on the sharp corner of the table. After a moment the two boys managed to pull themselves out from underneath his heavy unconscious body and stood looking down at him.

"Is he …is he… dead?" Isaac looked over at Selim anxiously.

Calmly his friend held two fingers to the man's throat, as if this was all perfectly normal "No." He said, wiping Farrell's blood off his mouth with the back of his hand "He is still breathing. But he is out cold." He trotted off to Isaac's battered toy box and came back with a jump rope. Then he grabbed hold of the minders hands, pulling them behind his back.

"Selim! What are you doing!" Isaac hissed.

"Tying him up."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can, it is easy." Selim pulled the knot tight"I have often used ropes to bind prey." He paused and looked thoughtful "My father would probably want me to dispatch him now."

"Dispatch? What does that mean!?"

"Kill him."

"NO!"

Selim looked up in surprise "You do not want him to get up do you?"

"No but – "

"Isaac, we cannot afford hesitation."

"Can't we just leave him here?" His friend pleaded "I don't want to get in trouble!"

Selim finished tying the knot and stood up. He looked down at the unconscious man for a moment, then at Isaac's stricken expression. Then he shrugged "Very well, I won't kill him but we must go! If my Father is here we need to find him and my Mother too. They will put a stop to all of this."

"But… Farrell said that your father was gonna die!"

"You do not really believe that?" Selim gave a little chirrup of disgust "Like you said; he is a …what was the word again?"

"Dumbass?"

"Yes, that word. My Father unable to move? Ridiculous! He could not be defeated by such as this, he is invincible! This soft meat must be lying." He waved Farrell's words away with a dismissive hand.

"But he said my Mom was gone too!"

"Another lie."

"But if they find out I'm missing they'll send people after me! And what about the monster? I'm not sure – "

"Isaac, I am sure!" Selim gripped the other boy's arm urgently "We need to get out of here before Farrellwakes up or he'll start making too much noise. We need to find my parents and maybe Iversson too, they will protect us."

As they slipped through the door that Farrell had left unlocked and pulling it shut with a click they began to run down the corridor. Outside the large glass windows of the corridors of Island South the stormy sea raged soundlessly, artificial lights throwing strange watery reflections onto the walls and ceiling. The two children ran on silent feet, not really knowing where they were running to – just trying to get away.

As the came to a corner Selim slowed, flattening himself against the wall and motioned for the other boy to do the same. Isaac skidded to a halt behind him and waited, fidgeting nervously as his friend edged forward to peer down the next stretch of hallway. Something that Farrell had said was bothering him.

In fact everything Farrell had said was bothering him.

* * *

The exotic was unnervingly quiet, prowling through the dark like a shadow.

Iversson's heart was in her mouth as she walked next to him. All she could hear was the strange ghostly, white-noise caused by the fathoms of water that surrounded them on all sides. There were moments when she had to clamp her lips shut to prevent herself from breaking the silence to alleviate her nerves. Just as she thought the tension alone might drive her mad he spoke.

"Scientisssst?" He did not look at her "There is something I must… asssk you."

She swallowed "Yes?"

"You performed the operation… on my sssson?"

A little tingle of dread ran all through her "Yes, I oversaw it."

"Selim's illnessss," He said slowly "Is it because… he is... a hybrid?"

She thought for a moment, grateful to have something else to occupy her mind than fear of the dark. Some people would have already been falling over themselves to tell this violent creature what he wanted to hear, but Iversson had backbone. She was an inherently honest person and besides, in spite of the fear she found herself feeling a little sliver of sympathy for him. She knew only too well the searing hot misery of a parent with a sick child, who can't help but ask themselves over and over again "Was it my fault?"

"It's hard to isolate what causes cancer," She said finally "But I think I can say with a degree of certainty it's unlikely that was the reason."

"How can you… know this?" He sounded suspicious.

"Because Isaac hasn't developed it." She said simply "And genetically the two of them are identical. If he remains clear that would seem to suggest other factors are involved."

"Such as…?"

"Environmental ones perhaps. Diet, exposure to radiation… or sometimes it just seems to be bad luck."

He seemed to be thinking "The… facsimile; he has not become ill?"

"When I found out about Selim's tumour I had them do a brain scan on Isaac immediately," She told him "He's clear. And Selim is recovering at an astonishing rate. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone healing so fast after such a serious operation."

"That is no great… mystery!" He said irritably "He is… my sssson."

Iversson frowned. She just couldn't work him out; on the one hand she had evidently not been wrong about his savagery or his capacity for violence, he had proven as much since she set him free. On the other he clearly cared about his son and weirdly she found that, on this subject, they shared some common ground. Isaac and Selim were remarkable in their ability to heal, their accelerated growth, their sharpened instincts, their intelligence … even though, as he had pointed out, she had no genetic link to either of them she shared his pride. Isaac certainly would not exist if it hadn't been for her and without her help Selim would probably not be alive. In an odd way, she felt that linked him and the two children to her just as strongly as any bridge made out of the slippery double helix of DNA.

A skittering noise in the corridor behind made her jump and caused him to stop dead, as if his whole body was listening. When no more noise came he began moving forward again.

"I can't see anything." She said, more to herself than to him.

"They are all around us," He purred "I hear them... I… sense them."

"What?! Where?" She couldn't see anything but she was almost ready to climb on his shoulders at the thought.

"Silence!" He put one hand at the side of his mask. Then he stood with his head cocked for a few seconds as if listening "We need to leave," He said suddenly "Now."

He began to move more quickly down the corridor and she tried to keep up, stumbling along in the dim light for a few moments before he turned impatiently and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her along behind him.

Iversson shrank inside her skin at the physical contact, but she forced herself to bare it, not wanting to be left alone in this freezing, submarine tomb. She gritted her teeth, only occasionally speaking to tell him a right or a left turn.

"How far … is it to this lift?"

"Down to the end here, around the next right hand turn and then left -" She said.

A blood freezing shriek echoed out of the darkness behind them and he began to speed up, her feet almost lifted off the floor "I thought – you could – kill them – easily!" She said, the breath being jolted from her lungs as she ran faster than she had in years.

"It would take… too long to kill… all of them."

"How many are there!?" She gasped in horror.

"You do not …want to know!"

As they rounded the corner at a dead run, there was a creaking, groaning noise of metal breaking and tearing and the floor gave way underneath them. She didn't even have a chance to scream as the shadows closed over their heads.

* * *

"Come on!" Lex hissed "Get it open!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Rathbone fumbled with the biometrics, jamming his fingers onto the sensor pads.

At their backs, they could hear horrible cries, scrabbling and banging at the security door that had just shut behind them.

As the next door slid open they raced through and hastily pressed the pad to seal it again, then bolted down the corridor, skidding and slipping on the polished floor.

"Are you sure you want to lead these … things right to your kid?" He panted.

"How do you know they're not already headed for him?" She spat back "You idiots bring them here! You let them escape and now they're coming out of the fucking walls!"

He didn't argue; she was right and she still had the gun.

She suddenly skidded to a halt outside one particular door "That's not where your son is!" He said, confused.

"No, but it is Iversson's office, I remember from before. Use your pass, I need to get in!"

"What the fuck for?"

"Because I need my weapons back and I'm taking a guess that's where she put them!"

Both of their heads jerked round as a distant shriek echoed down the corridor, muffled by the security door – for now.

"A guess?!"

She didn't answer but pointed the gun at him "Open it!"

"I can't, I don't have authorisation to get into the Professor's office!"

Without a word she pointed the gun away from him and shot the lock out, then kicked the door hard. It swung inwards, slamming against the wall with a crack and she darted inside.

"Woods!" He shrank back against the wall as another shriek cut through him. When she didn't answer he went in after her. He found her yanking at a large locked drawer without success, rattling it. When it didn't open she snatched up a long metal letter opener off the desk and began picking the lock. "At least it's just a regular lock on this drawer, thank God Iversson's old school!"

"Whatever you're doing hurry the fuck up?" He peered around the door frame then looked round, eyes wide with fear "They're at the last door – we've got to go!"

"We need weapons that are going to work against the hard meat, not this human rubbish." She said grimly "I need hunter's weapons! My weapons!"

"You don't know they're even in there!" They could now hear a rhythmic banging noise in the corridor outside. He looked like he was going to be sick "They're going to be through that door any minute!"

"Make yourself useful then," He looked at her in bewilderment "Push that desk in front of it!"

Dumbly he obeyed, though he what furniture could do against a creature that wasn't stopped by bullets he couldn't imagine. The desk was very heavy and it took all his strength to shift it across the thickly carpeted floor. He wedged it shut as tightly as he could; even though the door was heavy the locking mechanism was broken now. He heard her triumphant exclamation behind him, a clunk and a ping as the drawer sprang open. Then to his horror a tinkling crash as the reinforced glass in the security door shattered and then… hissing breath getting louder and louder as the things padded down the hallway outside.

He turned to see her strapping blades onto her hands and snapping a metal gauntlet around her wrist. She slung a holster around her waist into which she slid several wicked-looking knives, a few clusters of strange objects, a weird looking gun and another larger gauntlet. In one hand she held a short, solid looking metal stick.

Then she lifted up a large metal mask and pushed it onto her face.

She turned to face him, transformed. The glowering visor made her look inhuman and strange and he almost shrank away from her. Then her head flicked towards the door as one of the creatures hit it heavily from the other side. She twisted the short stick in her hands and suddenly it expanded to become a long spear, blades shooting out of either end.

"They're gonna get through any second!" He said, in abject terror now "We're trapped! They're going to do to us what they did to Haagens!"

She turned to look at him but before she could say anything the door began to move – the heavy desk being pushed slowly but inexorably further and further back. As the smooth head emerged through the ever widening gap she levelled her spear and stabbed at its forehead but the thing thrust a long clawed hand into the room and deflected the blow, slithering through with sickening ease.

She lunged, using the spear to impale it through the sternum and it sprang backwards leaving the spear still embedded in its body, steam rising from the wound. The creature hissed and bared its fangs, drool streaming from its open maw, it tensed. Without hesitation she pulled her gun and shot it in the head, the white hot heat blowing the creature and its corrosive blood backwards across the wall. The blast illuminated the whole room and left his vision full of blue after-echoes.

She kept the door covered with the gun a few moments more but no more monsters seemed to be outside. Then she reached up and touched the side of her mask, looking from side to side, scanning for something.

"It's clear for now." Her voice sounded almost ghostly, inside the mask.

"I don't understand, how can they be over here?" He coughed, gagging on the smell of dissolving metal "They're isolated over on North and I posted guards on the bridge – "

"You really don't have any idea what you're facing here, do you?" She strode over to the oozing, fizzing corpse and calmly pulled the spear from its abdomen "Your staff might be guarding the bridge, but if they can get into the ventilation system they can move around without even being detected."

She inspected the smouldering spearhead for a moment, seemed to decide it was worth salvaging and retracted the blades, slotting it into a holster on her back. Then she pulled open the door, having to heave the desk back out of the way to do it.

The hallway outside was empty.

"What's the matter?" She nodded through the door "Scared of the dark?"

He swallowed "Can I get one of those guns?"

She gave a hollow chuckle "Very funny. Now get moving."


	26. Chapter 26

Iversson looked up from the hard metal floor. Her hand rested beside something that looked like a coiling tree root. When she lifted it up, strands of translucent slime stretched out stickily, like webs of glue between her fingers. She tried top rise but nearly cried out at the sharp pain in her ankle "I must have twisted it in the fall!" She realised.

Suddenly someone grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her roughly upright.

"Get up!" Hissed the exotic behind her "Plenty of … time to rest when you are …dead."

She forced herself to stand and look around properly. They seemed to be in some kind of underground cavern, huge rib-like arches of rock were all around them. As she looked closely she realised that it couldn't be rock. It looked … biologicial, like some sort of natural formation "But that makes no sense," She thought "We only fell through the floor, we must be on the lower levels of Island North but… sweet Jesus!"

"It is a hard meat nest," Said the exotic next to her ear, almost as if he had read her mind "See… what your … human friends have been habouring behind… your back!"

"But why did the floor give way?"

"They laid a trap for us," He hissed "I told you they are not… stupid."

"Laid a trap?" She said.

"Acid blood used to… weaken the floor most likely."

She stared at him. If he was right then these creatures must be cunning as well as horribly aggressive. She didn't even notice the human shape jutting from the wall next to her until she nearly walked into it. As she reeled back in horror, choking down a scream that bubbled up in her throat like vomit, she caught the whiff of decay.

An emaciated corpse hung limply in a web of slimey strands. His grey skin and sandy blonde hair were coated in mucus, but more terrible than this was the huge, gaping hole that yawned in his chest. Broken struts of white ribcage were visible at the edge of the ragged crater of raw meat where they had been splintered and bent outwards, as if his heart had exploded in his chest.

"What in the name of all that's holy…" She turned to look questioningly at the exotic

"Lex's 'friend'," He said dispassionately "No doubt he wished I had… cut his throat! It would have been… quicker."

"No, I mean what happened to him?"

"Used as a host… for the hard meat larvae," He flicked a clawed finger at the cadaver's ruined torso "They grow inside you then … burst free." She noticed his other hand crept unconsciously to his own chest where she could see a large jagged scar.

"That's horrific!"

He made a shrugging motion and then stiffened. She followed his gaze to stealthy, black shapes crawling along the wall towards them. She would not have seen them, so well did they blend with the warped organic shapes of the resin structure.

He began to move backwards and she copied him, edging their way along the corridor without turning their backs on the threat. The passageway gave out into a large chamber and as they emerged into the open the exotic turned, putting his back to the wall and pulling her along with him. Iversson cursed as spears of pain shot through her injured ankle.

"Stand up straight!" Grated the exotic behind her "If they think you are… wounded they will attack."

Now that she was a little less disoriented she could see more clearly the chamber they had stumbled into. Iversson looked around and swallowed. This was a scene from a fever dream, sinuous shadows writhed and entwined in the half dark. Organic shapes fused and melded before her eyes; teeth and bones and slimy, pulsating membranes all twisted together.

On the margins of her vision dark, sleek shapes waited. All around them were objects, huge leathery pods; the sheath of filmy mucus at their apex twitched disgustingly, as if stimulated by their presence. But much worse than that; at the centre of it all like a nightmare spider, a vast creature sat suspended on giant spindley struts. A huge, bloated egg sac hung from her abdomen, pulsing and quivering as it squeezed out some vile excresence. Her long crested head lifted up to look at them without eyes. A mouthful of knives yawned wide to see trespassers in her domain.

The exotic growled "You are unarmed … female, get behind me. _Now_."

Iverssson was too aghast to move. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder dragging her backwards, somehow the horror of what she could see in front of her had wiped out her horror of his touch.

From behind his huge frame she heard the Queen breathing, the sound whistling and ragged between her teeth. Iversson thought that she had never seen or heard a creature that seemed so much the living embodiment of pure hatred. She had thought the exotic frightening with his yellow eyes and unstable temper but, compared to this thing dredged up from the depths of some Freudian oubliette, his species were virtually blood kin to humanity. They were surrounded, but for some reason the dark figures on all sides were hanging back

In the face of the madness the alien stood his ground, the blades at his wrists raised ready to fight. There was a strange mechanical whine then suddenly a burst of light and noise as his shoulder mounted gun fired into the ruined ceiling. Sparks rained down on them and the gun swivelled round to cover the rows and rows of eggs that lined the floor. Then she heard him speak again.

"You know what I am… Queen of Death, _"_ He said "My dispute is not with you… let me go to find my offspring and… I will spare yours!"

If the Queen didn't understand his words, she seemed to understand his meaning. She snaked her head to one side and then the other, as if considering, the crowd of chitinous bodies shifting uncertainly.

Taking advantage of her inaction, the exotic began to back away slowly, moving carefully across the large floorspace and pushing Iversson along too. Although the upper level was swiss-cheesed with corridors this floor was virtually all taken up with one chamber. Iversson shuddered, realising this must have been under her feet the whole time.

"Professor?" She was startled to hear a human voice.

She turned and saw a pale face hovering in the bloodred shadows, standing about ten feet away amongst the black, predatory shapes. He moved closer and then suddenly she recognized him...  
"Danzig!" She breathed "What are you doing in here?! Get away from them, they'll tear you apart!"

"And why would they do that?" His voice had a strange edge to it, as if he wasn't quite in control of it "The Hive don't see me as prey. They won't hurt me."

"Don't be ridiculous!" She said "What are you trying to prove? We've got to get out of here! Come away from them!" She held out her hands to him desperately – he seemed deranged, not in his right mind "Come with us!" She tried again.

"I wasn't expecting the power to fail," The hysterical quaver rose and fall as he struggled to modulate his tone "I admit that! But anyone else would have been dead, but I have made myself impervious to them!"

"What are you talking about Danzig?" She asked, keeping her own voice level with difficulty "How are you stopping them from attacking you?"

"I told you, hormones!" He looked fevered, beads of sweat standind out on his brow despite the cold "My hormone tag makes them think I have already been impregnated so they leave me alone. It took me a few attempts to isolate the chemical their embryo produces within a human host. There were some… losses, but it was worth it, so worth it. I tried to tell you Professor, there's no limit to what I can do; the control I can have!"

Now she looked more closely at Danzig she could see it, a small glowing object pinned to the front of his overalls. What bothered her most though, were his eyes. She'd thought this dreadful place a glimpse of hell but it was a summer picnic compared to what she could see behind Danzig's eyes.

"Very clever." She murmured.

"You've still got to be dealt with Professor." He said, moving closer to her almost as if they were alone, he seemed to have forgotten about the exotic and the creatures "I need you silenced and the Hive needs hosts for its young; life to make life. It's in pursuit of a higher scientific goal, you understand?"

"There's nothing scientific about what you're doing!"

"You're so wrong Professor, this is purity itself. Scientific endeavour untrammelled by social mores. Nietzche said it best "Who can attain anything great if he does not have the will to inflict great pain?"

At that moment the exotic, who had been silently listening to their conversation, suddenly shot out one long arm and seized her former colleague by the lapels.

"How right you arrrre!" He growled, yanking the pin out of the man's jacket.

"No!" Danzig gasped "You big stupid brute! You don't understand what you're doing!"

Without taking his eyes off the Queen, the exotic shoved Danzig hard, sending him reeling backwards into the middle of a wide circle of hard meat.

The little man stared around him in terror as the ring of snarling mouths began to close. Several of the nearest ones hissed angrily, heads low to the ground as they advanced, their eyeless faces nevertheless seeming to see him for the first time. An insane thought struck her "They know he's the one who's been keeping them prisoner – they know he's been deceiving them all along!"

"Iversson!" Danzig whimpered. He looked like a scared little boy. Even from here Iversson could see him shaking, she had never seen anyone look so alone, so exposed.

"Stop! Stop!" He shrieked as cadaverous arms reached out, slavering jaws moved in for the kill.

As angry as she'd been with him her basic humanity wouldn't allow her to just stand by and watch him die.

"DANZIG!" She went to reach out to him but the exotic seized her wrist, holding her fast.

"My… clan has a saying much… like this." He purred "'All triumph is… fed with suffering'."

"What?!" She looked up at him, appalled and he shrugged.

"Just ensure the suffering is not… yours."

She stared at him as Danzig's screams echoed around the walls, suddenly rising up in pitch to an animalistic squeal as the horrible sound of tearing and rending got louder and then a desperate choking and gurgling. Iversson riveted her gaze on the smooth, metal of the alien's mask, not wanting to see. Just when she thought she couldn't stand it any longer, Danzig was silent.

The exotic didn't even look round. He seemed to be studying her face.

"It is only a… rough translation." He said dryly "Now we must go. I do not … think this little trinket will disguise… **me**!"

He began to inch backwards, pushing her along with him, the hard meat around them either occupied with her former colleague or hanging back. They edged towards the door to the stairwell; Iversson glancing nervously behind them.

As she moved through the massing blackness her foot brushed one of the thick veiny tendrils that covered the floor like a network.

There was a wet little sound to their left.

As one, she and the exotic turned to see one of the repulsive pods open. Long boney fingers appeared at the top, groping their way out of the slimey sheath. Almost immediately the gun on the exotic's shoulder swivelled and fired. There was a blinding flash and the smell of burning. Before the eye-searing flare had even died away he was running, dragging her fast along with him, the shoulder cannon firing in all directions – showers of matter glittering and combusting all around.

"What happened to your truce?"

"She broke it!" He snarled.

As he hauled her backwards he pulled a couple of small, silver spheres and flung them towards the shadows clustered around the Queen and she saw one of the creatures explode in a shower of glutinous shrapnel and bone shards, clouds of steam billowing up from the floor where its blood spatter fell. Piercing shrieks echoed in her ears.

He shouldered his way through the double doors that gave into a smaller room and then out again into the hallway. Whatever security measures might once have kept these doors secure having shut down along with the power.

He hauled her along the corridor until by sheer luck they found the door that gave access to the stairwell, crashing through it. Iversson looked up – it was like gazing into an abyss in reverse. There were so many flights of stairs stretching around and up into the blue tinged gloom you couldn't even see the top. She was still contemplating this in dismay when the exotic snatched her up and flung her over his shoulder. Without a word he began to leap up the stairs, taking them three or four at a time. Behind them Iverssson saw the doors burst open and glistening bodies at the bottom of the stairwell.

Then she heard it; a spine-tingling cry of terrible fury.

* * *

"There are guards with guns!" Selim hissed at Isaac "They're all standing around that door. I wonder where it goes."

Isaac peered around the corner cautiously "That's the door to North Terminus."

"What's North Terminus?"

"It's the way you get to the North Island," Isaac pointed through the huge pane of glass to where the walkway stretched twenty or thirty feet above the waves "Look, there's the bridge." The bright lights that usually showed the way across the water were flickering on and off.

" _That_ is the way to the North Island?"

"Yes," Isaac shrank back "Where the monster lives."

"That must be why they are guarding it." Selim looked thoughtful "I wonder how we can get past them."

"Why?!"

Selim gave him an uncharacteristically mischievous grin "Because they don't want us to!"

"Can't we just go find your Mom?" Isaac pleaded "At least we know where she is!"

Seeing his friend turned fish-belly white at the very thought of going over the water, Selim relented. Despite anything his father could teach him, despite anything that might have happened; he was still a kind-hearted boy by nature.

"It is alright Isaac," He said generously "I want to get to my Mother first anyway. We have to tell her my Father is here, she'll be so happy!"

"She will? Why?"

"They hate being apart. Whenever one is away, the other is always in a terrible mood until they return." Selim said.

Isaac absorbed this, mystified "Why?" He asked.

"Well… because they miss each other." Selim looked at him strangely "Like I feel now, being away from them. They're my parents, I love them! Do you not miss Iversson?"

Now it was Isaac's turn to be amused, he didn't laugh aloud given the legion of armed guards stationed just around the corner but he shrugged and said off-handedly "Iversson never comes. Anyway she's probably dead… like Farrell said."

Selim frowned; he missed his mother and father terribly. To believe they were dead? No matter what Farrell had said, he refused to even contemplate it. That was tantamount to sacrilege by his reckoning. Something told him that his friend wasn't being entirely honest with him. He'd seen how distressed Isaac had been when the minder said those things. Selim sighed but decided to let it pass. He didn't want to have another fight.

"Well we still have to get past them." He whispered "Mom's room is down that hallway."

"We could climb through the vents again."

Selim looked up at the ventilator grille "It's quite high up."

"Stand on my shoulders and then you can pull me up."

"Alright."

He clambered onto his friend's shoulders, and was about to put his fingers into the holes to pull the cover loose when he noticed a movement in the darkness behind the grille.

"Isaac," He hissed urgently "There's something in there!"

Before he could think what to do next the vent cover was struck hard from the inside, knocking it to the floor with a clang. Selim threw himself backwards, leaping from Isaac's shoulders, stumbling and falling as he landed. He and Isaac scooted back as a black, boney snake uncurled out of the aperture. It was followed by a grinning pair of jaws, long streamers of drool spilled from snarling lips as the creature began to pull itself out into the hallway.

Both boys gaped, their feet squealing on the polished floor as they scrambled away. Without waiting to see anymore, they leapt to their feet and began to run.

As they barrelled around the corner, towards the five armed guards, five guns swung around towards them. Isaac heard a man shout "Don't shoot – it's the kids!"

The nearest man lunged towards them and the two boys split and dodged around him but the next man managed to grab Selim by the wrist and another laid hold of Isaac's shoulder.

"No! No! Let me go! It's coming!" Isaac screamed, lashing out wildly until a guard seized his other arm.

Selim fought like one demented, all the time trying to twist round to look back down the corridor. Four of the guards were now all focussed now on restraining him and Isaac. In the background he could hear the fifth man speaking into his radio "Yes Ma'am, we've got them – the two children… running around loose! No Ma'am, I don't know what happened to Farrell - "

The black shape came around the corner on all fours, its long tail poised scorpion-like above its head. Even the man with the radio had his back to it as he talked on oblivious.

"Look!" Selim gasped at the man holding him "Behind you! Look, there!"

They didn't listen, just kept trying to hold him down. He could do nothing but watch in terror as the thing crept closer and closer.


	27. Chapter 27

In South Control Diana Weyland gazed at the screens; several showed nothing but drifting static snow. All the feeds from Island North had been lost and now a growing number over on the South Island were also malfunctioning. She'd lost Rathbone as he entered the prisoner's room. One of the few screens where people were visible was the feed from North Terminus where she had been watching the guards capture the two children.

"That idiot, Farrell!" She muttered in growing irritation "I give him one job to do, one simple task. All he had to do was keep those two contained."

She turned to Marino, Rathbone's first lieutenant on the security staff "Go down and check out the boy's cells. Find that incompetent. I want an explanation as to how those two little brats managed get past a grown man! Have you managed to get hold of Rathbone?" She spat this at Himura on the desk.

"Lost contact Ma'am." He told her "We've been trying to raise him and Vincent but no dice."

She sighed "Well at least his staff are doing their job down at North Terminus – "

"Ms Weyland?"

"What?!" She spun round.

"There's something going on down there, some kind of disturbance..."

She pushed him aside to look at the monitor "No!" Her blood-coloured lips fell open "He said they couldn't get over here!"

* * *

Isaac didn't want to look but he couldn't tear his gaze away as the grinning thing seized the guard who'd been holding him down. The man screamed as he was dragged backwards across the floor. At the same moment another vent cover burst open and black shapes dropped from the ceiling like all his bad dreams come to life.

Isaac shrieked himself as he felt a hand close around his ankle, thin but with a grip like a steel clamp. He struggled to break free but he was no match for the strength in those bony fingers. It yanked him off his feet and the world spun out of control. He was maddened with fear. Tears spilled down his face and a terrified sob fought its way up his throat as he felt the things hot breath on the back of his neck.

Then something cannoned into the creature, knocking it across the corridor and he was thrown to the floor. Isaac looked up dazedly and saw a masked figure that looked like a monster himself struggling with the black shape. As he watched, it put a foot on the creature's neck and plunged the flashing blades on its fists into the bulbous forehead.

"Isaac!" Selim grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him out of the way as droplets of a clear liquid spilled onto the polished floor, smoking and spitting.

The two boys clung to each other as the wild, black-haired devil kicked the corpse of the first monster aside and turned as two more creatures leapt forward, hissing and snarling.

Almost too fast to follow, the mask whipped a gun from his hip holster and opened fire, the brightness like fireworks indoors. As both shapes fell down lifeless he pointed the gun at the hole in the ceiling, waiting for more monsters to come. When nothing appeared, he lowered the gun and walked towards them.

Isaac, rigid with fear, suddenly felt Selim leap up and break free of his clinging hands.

"Mommy!" He yelled at the top of his lungs "I knew you'd come!"

For a moment Isaac was dumbfounded, he watched in astonishment as the figure pulled off its mask and suddenly became human again.

Selim's mother threw her arms around her son and lifted him off his feet "Selim! Thank God you're alright!"

Then she put him down and turned towards him, kneeling down and holding out her hands towards him "Isaac?" She said "Honey? Are you ok?"  
He stared at her in shock, unable to think what to do next. A moment ago he'd thought she was something awful and now all he could see was … Selim's mother… smiling at him, wanting to hold him and tell him everything was alright.

Isaac was not used to trusting people. As long as he could remember he'd always been unsure of who was really on his side. Iversson and Farrell were the most constant presences in his life. Isaac hated the minder and Iversson was so rarely around that he'd gotten used to being without her, although at first he'd cried himself to sleep every night.

Now he had his new friend and this woman, who had been so kind to him these last few weeks, was looking at him just like she actually cared. A mother who killed monsters…. who wore a mask like a demon… he didn't dare to trust her, didn't dare trust his own luck.

"No." He said tensely, his hands balled into fists by his sides.

"You're not hurt are you?" Her face was immediately twisted with worry "Did some of their blood get on you?"

He flinched back away from her "Isaac?" Selim was giving him a puzzled frown "It is all fine now." He said holding out his own hand to Isaac "My Mother just wants to check you for acid burns."

"Acid burns!?"

"Just let me look at you," Selim's mother was suddenly beside him and before he knew what was happening she was checking him over, gently turning him one way and then the other so she could make sure he wasn't hurt.

"You seem ok, thank God!" She said, suddenly pulling him against her, hugging him tightly "I've been so worried about you both!"

Isaac stiffened at the physical contact … then gradually, he relaxed and let her hold him. It was good if someone worried about you, that they were willing and able to protect you – even from monsters.

A shadow fell across them and Isaac looked up and saw another man he knew only as one of his many jailers. As Selim's mother released him he turned and glared up at Rathbone, bitterly resenting the interruption.

"Look, I hate to bust up the world's weirdest family reunion," Said the security chief "But we can't stay here."

"Me'Varsi?" Selim scowled at Rathbone and grabbed his mother's shoulder "I have to tell you – Farrell, that human who was so cruel to Isaac? He says Father is here."

Selim's mother covered her son's hand with her own and smiled at him. Isaac felt a little needle of jealousy.

"I know Selim," She said "I just found out myself where he is."

"Well we have to find him!" Selim said urgently "Farrell said he is in a lot of danger!"

"You can't help him!" Rathbone retorted "He's over on Island North, it's crawling with those things!"

Selim shot another angry glare at him and grasped his mother's arm even tighter "Mei'Varsi, he could be in trouble!"

"Don't worry sweetheart, your Father doesn't get _into_ trouble, he _is_ trouble." She said firmly "And of course we're going to find him. We'll just have to go over there and then we can all get as far away from here as possible. We're near the bridge now…"

Isaac baulked at this. He did **not** want to go over to North Island – especially if there were more of those grinning things. To his surprise he found himself siding with his former jailer.

"You can't go over there!" Rathbone gestured at the long hallway beyond the sealed door of North Terminus. In some sections the lighting still flickered but mostly the connecting walkway was in shadow, the only illumination was the orange glow of the outdoor sodium lights of Island South filtering through the windows.

Beyond that Island North; a dark continent, barely visible across wine-dark seas.

Selim's mother caught the man's arm and dragged him a little way off, speaking urgently under her breath. She obviously didn't mean for them to overhear but Isaac could still catch the angry hiss of her voice.

"Listen Rathbone, we have to go and get him!" She whispered fiercely "You know as well as I do his father is paralysed, so if those things are running around – "

"Whatever happened before he sure as shit ain't paralysed now!"

"What do you mean?" Her voice jumping several octaves in surprise and she grabbed the collar of his suit.

He nodded "Son of a bitch killed three of those things! I saw it myself from the Control Room. The boss lady was royally pissed."

"Oh thank Heaven!" She put her hands together over her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment, then making an effort to speak quietly "How did he manage to escape?"

"Iversson turned him loose." He pulled himself free of her grasp and smoothed the front of his jacket.

"Iversson?!" Her eyes went wide with astonishment

"Those things attacked her, so she set him free."

"God bless her!" She breathed "I never would have thought she'd - "

"I guess she didn't have a choice, it was that or die."

"How do you know all this?"

"I saw it on the screen before _he_ ripped out the camera, then I got sent after you!"

Selim's mother appeared to consider this for a moment then she sniffed "All this makes no difference. We still have to go over the bridge. We have to get him _and_ my spaceship. I can't leave without them."

"But it's fucking suicide!"

"Have you got a better plan?"

"Yes!" He took hold of her arm "Weyland has a helipad on the top deck of _this_ Island. Give me a gun and let's go make a run for that! If you're really crazy enough to want to save the exotic we can fly over, same goes for getting your spaceship. Surely that's got to be better than dragging your boys into that nightmare factory!"

She paused for a moment, looking back at him and Selim. Isaac watched her pretty dark eyes apprehensively; afraid she was going to take them to Island North after all. He didn't really understand what Rathbone had said about Iversson, aside from the fact that it sounded like she was still alive and he was hugely relieved about that. After a moment, Selim's mother pulled a pistol from the waistband of her trousers and tossed it to the man.

"Alright tough guy," She said "Lead on, but if you're thinking of fucking me over just ask yourself; if I'm dead who's going to save your ass?"

* * *

Iversson watched, eyes riveted by fear as the black shapes began to swarm up the stairs faster then she'd ever have imagined bipedal creatures could move.

"They're coming!"

"I see that human!"

"They're gaining on us!"

" **I know this**!"

He reached the next floor and turned as the first of the glistening shapes came leaping up on them, snaggle-teeth trailing spittle. Not even bothering to use his blades the exotic swung his arm and punched it hard in the jaw as it bounded up the steps, knocking it over the balcony and into the stairwell. It shrieked and lashed its limbs around, trying to grab hold of something as it fell backwards into the darkness.

The second one went the way of the first, twisting this way and that as it tried desperately to break its fall. His plasma gun swivelled and fired several times, driving back the ones still further down the stairs.

In the seconds pause they felt the floor shudder; Iversson strained her eyes to stare down into the shadows. At the bottom of the stairwell she could just make out the doors being pushed aside by a giant, grinning muzzle. She caught her breath in terror as the Queen turned her blind head in their direction and shrieked like a banshee. Iversson could hear her death foretold in that cry.

The exotic didn't miss a beat. As the bugs fell back momentarily under his plasma fire he seized her again and burst through the doorway leading out of the stairwell and onto the next floor of Island North, coming out directly in front of the elevator. The lift doors were slightly ajar, she assumed having ground to a halt in this position when the electricity died.

He put his claws between them and wrenched them wider, wide enough for him to get through.

"The elevator's not working!" She said, thinking he hadn't realised "There's no power!"

"I realise that female!" He yanked her through the opening into the darkened elevator and she cringed as she heard shrieking cries echo up the stairs.

"They'll be here any second!" She yelled, beside herself with terror.

"Control yourself!" He snarled and thrust his fist upwards, punching the trap door in the roof open with a boom of metal on metal. Wordlessly he hauled himself and her through onto the roof of the lift. Above them, the shaft was so dark she could barely see anything. Below them a very faint glow of the emergency lighting bled through from the corridor.

She heard the hissing breath of the creatures as they began to sniff around underneath, searching.

"Scientissst?" She looked at him, or at the blackness where his voice was coming from "We need to go … all the way up?"

"Yes!" Iversson's voice was a cracked whisper.

He pulled out another clutch of little spherical objects, only visible to her because of the small blinking red light on each one, and tossed them through the trap door into the lift below. The movement alerted the questing creatures underneath to their presence and one immediately put its head through the trapdoor. She could see the double rows of teeth glinting wetly in the dark…


	28. Chapter 28

Iversson gasped involuntarily as she felt the exotic seize hold of her and pull her up against him.

"Hold on … Professsssor."

She could have sworn she could hear the grin in his voice even under the mask.

In the dim glow from beneath she saw his other hand gripping one of the lift cables. Her lungs shrivelled in terror, driving the breath out of her when she realised what he was planning to do. Flinging her arms around his neck, she squeezed her eyes shut as he swung his wrist blades, shearing through the thick sheaf of cables in a single stroke. Her arms were almost wrenched from their sockets as the cable yanked them up and the elevator fell away beneath them. The snarling face of the creature disappeared into the gloom.

He wrapped one arm around her waist as they shot upwards and relief flooded her as the searing pain in her arms reduced. Even though she knew there was only empty air under them Iversson couldn't stop her legs flailing in panic, trying to find a foothold in nothingness. She could hear an insistent high pitched whine getting closer and closer, the noise of the metal cable flying through its housing at great speed.

She hated to think what would happen when they reached the top.

Then she felt him reach to his side with the arm that was also supporting her weight and got the sense that he was holding something. The noise got louder and louder and she realised they must be almost at the top. As the discordant shriek reached a nerve shredding pitch abruptly, terrifyingly, he let go. There was a strange moment just after they stopped flying up but before they started to drop where she felt almost weightless. Her stomach lurched as they began to fall, but at that same moment there was a sound like gunfire, a whirring noise, then with a twang their fall suddenly stopped. If he hadn't had one huge arm tightly around her waist the violence of the jolt would have torn her hands from his neck, leaving her to plunge down the shaft into endless night. For a few moments they just hung there, swinging gently in the pitch black of the elevator shaft, panting for breath.

Then there was the distant sound of an explosion and a bright light flowered beneath them. Even all these floors up she felt the vibrations and clung on desperately as tongues of flame licked up the walls. After a moment she realised it must have been his bombs going off.

The noise of the blast was followed by a deep rumbling and grinding and then there was rushing, booming sound.

"What is that… noise?" For the first time since he'd started to speak the exotic sounded uncertain.

"This whole complex is surrounded by the ocean," Iversson told him "I'd guess that either the explosion or the acid blood of those things or possibly a combination of the two has breached the hull and now the water is coming in."

"So this tunnel is… going to fill with… water?"

"Yes, of course!"

Immediately he began to move, swinging his legs so that they began to swing too until he was able to reach out and grab hold of something, pulling them to the side of the lift shaft.

"Here," He pulled her hand over to the wall and she realised there were metal rungs there welded to the metal, some sort of service ladder. She couldn't see them in the dark but evidently he could "Stay here."  
"Where are you going?!"

"I see… doors above. I will … open them."

She held onto the thin iron rungs and listened to the distant thundering of the water as he climbed up past her and began to work on the elevator doors, using a blade to try and pry them open far enough to get his fingers through.

"At least those vile things will drown!"

"Unlikely," He said, massive shoulders straining as he pulled at the doors "They can swim… though I imagine it _will_ give them… a strong incentive to climb up here rapidly!"

"Oh God!" The rushing noise from below was getting steadily closer.

Dim light filtered into the shaft as he managed to prise the elevator doors open, forcing them back by sheer brute strength.

As he turned, leaning down towards her, she heard his hiss of indrawn breath.

"What is it?"

"The hard meat… coming now!" Without warning he grabbed hold of her arm "You first, Scientissst!"

And with that he yanked her off the ladder. For a second she thought he was going to hurl her down to the waiting mouths but instead he swung her upwards in an arc, virtually throwing her overarm through the open elevator doors so she landed stunned and shivering on the metal floor.

She looked up in time to see his clawed hand appear at the lip of the shaft, and then it was suddenly dragged backwards out of sight. With a gasp of dismay, she scrambled to her feet and hurried to the edge, peering down to try and see what had happened.

He was still hanging from a metal rung, grappling with one of the monsters. The thing bared its horrible teeth at him and the exotic slammed it into the wall as he desperately tried to rip himself free. As she watched, another black shape came crawling up the inside of the shaft and leapt on him.

"Come on, come on!" Iversson leaned forward, willing him to get away, realising irrelevantly that she didn't even know his name to call out to him.

He looked up, the dim orange glow of the outdoor lighting gleaming off the polished metal surface of his mask.

"Run **idiot**!" He snarled "I thought you were meant to be intelligent!"

He was cut off as a third creature leapt on him from behind. He struggled for a moment and then he was gone, falling backwards amidst the threshing tangle of bodies.

Iversson sat there panting for a moment, too shocked to follow his instructions or do anything else. Then a strange blue glow caught her eye. She looked down.

Danzig's hormone tag was pinned to the front of her jacket.

* * *

Diana Weyland turned from the screen as the last of the guards at North Terminus succumbed to the Hive.

"Tell me that there's some failsafe we have in place against them?" She barked at Karlsson and Pascoe.

"I don't know Ma'am," Pascoe said doubtfully "I could round up the rest of the guys and we could go down there –"

"And get ripped apart just like they were, leaving me with no security staff? No." Diana stood up smartly "We go to the helipad."

"What about those things? Are we just gonna leave them?"

"Feel free to stay here with them if you like."

He paled "No Ma'am!" But they could get loose, what if they reach the mainland?"

"Let someone else worry about that," She was already walking to the door "We have more pressing concerns right now, like getting out of here alive."

She turned to address what remained of her security staff "Notify all remaining personnel; we are evacuating immediately."

"Yes Ma'am!"

"And make sure all the guards are armed; what are you packing?"

"Pulse rifles with flamethrower capability, Ma'am."

"Fine."

Alarms were sounding and bright orange lights flashed as they made their way hastily to the elevator and down. A small crowd had gathered on the top deck of Island South; security, some of the science team, technicians – the people it took to keep the complex ticking along. She imagined the reason there were so few was that many of the technical staff had gone back to the mainland on the earlier flight. Still, only a handful had managed to make it here. "If any more are left behind then more fool them," She thought "Let them stay and share Woods and the exotic's watery grave!"

On the helipad, two big Boeing-Vertol copters stood ready. The huge metal dome that usually covered the launch area was already open, leaving them open to the elements. She was about to step out into the wind when Marino came around the corner with a slightly woozy looking Farrell in tow.

She regarded the minder with displeasure "Farrell you incompetent! How the hell did those kids manage to get past you?"

"Those little freaks bit a real chunk outta him," Marino cut in, trying to defend his fellow guard "I found him tied up on the floor. Fucking little bastards!"

"Oh spare me the details!" She rolled her eyes "Marino, I need you and Gross to go on the other chopper and keep the rest of the staff in line."

"Ma'am?"

She narrowed her eyes at him "Just keep an watch on the science team. I don't want them babbling in front of the non-clearanced personnel. If anyone is overly talkative then remind them where their interests lie. If they still won't shut up…." She glanced meaningfully at his automatic. He gave a grim little nod and she was reassured.

"You come with me Farrell!" She snapped as he started after Marino "I'm not finished with you yet!"

Diana ran as fast as she was able to the chopper, her heels slithering on the wave spattered deck. The wind was so high that it snatched her breath away. By the time they reached the huge tandem rotor copter, she was dishevelled and frozen.

Spluttering and wiping her hand across her face she clambered on board, gasping with relief to feel the solid floor of the copter under her feet. The roar of the rotor blades on the two aircraft drowned out everything. She sat down, strapping herself into one of the seats that lined the wall and surveyed the drab, utilitarian interior of the chopper. Of course, she'd much rather have taken her private jet but the wind was simply too high to fly in.

There was Himura, head of surveillance, the two remaining members of her security detail, Pascoe and Karlsson. Farrell was hunched up on the seat furthest away from her. Pascoe handed her a towel and she briskly dried her face. Feathers of damp black hair clung to her skin like calligraphic pen strokes across a blank page.

When she'd wiped the saltwater from her eyes she sat silently for a few minutes, twisting the fabric tightly between her fists.

Himura watched her anxiously. It was not an overstatement to say that he feared her, nearly all of her staff did. The rumour was you never even knew when you had incurred her wrath until it was too late.

"Are…you alright Ms Weyland?"

"We managed to get out, that's the important thing. I'll admit it's something of a blow to lose the complex…and the children."

Himura's mouth fell open, he'd forgotten about them "Oh God… the children!"

"Yes, we stood to make a lot of money out of them."

He stared at her in horror.

* * *

"It's this way to the landing pad!"

Lex kept the plasma gun in her hand as they ran helter skelter after Rathbone down the slippery corridors of Island South, feet squealing on the linoleum. It was not only in case of the hard meat. She didn't trust the head of security and she wanted to make sure she had superior firepower at her fingertips just in case.

They ran down the long corridor that led up to Diana Weyland's office and looking through the large windows on the side of the corridor facing away from the ocean she suddenly saw the choppers sitting on the helipad, the blades turning lazily.

They all skidded to a halt as the two helicopters began to rise slowly into the air, the gale from their whirring blades whipping up the sea but eerily silenced by the thick glass.

Rathbone gaped in dismay, his palms flat against the glass "No!"

"Looks like someone beat us to the punch!" She said flatly.

* * *

Marino sat in the second Boeing, eyeing the assorted grab-bag of Weyland employees who'd managed to make it to the evac site. Everyone was edgy and tense, they didn't know why they had been suddenly evacuated. Some of them dragged from their beds in the middle of the night and rushed out to board a chopper in a howling gale. Even though they were only a small number – just seven people –they'd have to keep a tight lid on things. He could only imagine the utter panic if they did all know the real reason for the evacuation. In fact, to his eyes the cleared members of the science team – who surely did know – certainly looked a lot more squirrelly than the others. "No surprise there!" He thought.

Marino was one of the few of the security personnel who had full clearance. As Rathbone's right hand man he could access all areas of Weyland Corporation's floating complex and he knew what was lurking on the bottom levels of Island North.

Luckily for him he'd never possessed much of an imagination. The thought of the creeping terrors now dropping away beneath them didn't bother him much; whatever those things were they were leaving them behind. He was focussed on the here and now.

He watched the Weyland employees in the darkness of the helicopter. Kurtz, one of the science team was crying. She was being comforted by one of the technicians, maybe her boyfriend. They were speaking in low voices, her whispering to him through her tears. His face became grim "Kurtz!" He barked "Stow it, cut out that snivelling!"

She turned her swimming gaze up at him in surprise "You all signed a confidentiality agreement," He reminded her grimly "Just keep that in mind!"

Seven pairs of eyes were now riveted on him, goggling up at him in terror "Well I wanted to put the frighteners on them a little," he thought, "But I didn't lay it on 'em that bad!" Then he realised that they weren't staring at him, but at something behind him.

Marino turned to see a long black arm unfolding itself out of the small storage space right next to the hatch that gave access to the cockpit area, followed by a long sleek head that opened a mouth full of sharp teeth. Clear slime drooled from its distended jaws as it reached its arms towards him, sinuous fingers outstretched with silent longing…


	29. Chapter 29

To Lex it seemed the two helicopters were only about a hundred feet up and midway between the two Islands when the left hand copter began to lean. For no reason she could see, the huge double rotor aircraft listed to one side, swerving suddenly back towards Island South, straight into the path of the other chopper. It caught the right hand Boeing a swiping blow which destroyed its tail rotor and sent it veering across the dark sea towards Island North.

She and Rathbone gaped in disbelief as the left hand copter spun out of control, spiralling towards them.

"Oh shit! _**Run**_!"

Even before the words were out of his mouth she'd already seized the boys hands and begun to sprint back the way they'd come as the vast shape came hurtling through the sea fret. It hit the deck of Island South with an earth-shuddering boom, the rotor blades splintering into deadly red-hot shrapnel against the metal surface. A giant orange fireball engulfed the office tower and blew the windows inwards in a cloud of glittering shards.

All four of them were knocked flat by the blast, Lex throwing herself across the children and flinging her arm over her head to protect herself from any stray metal fragments as they were engulfed by a blizzard of broken glass.

As she lifted herself up off Selim and Isaac, trying not to lean on any jutting splinters and shaking the glass from her hair, she felt a cloud of heat that nearly took off her eyebrows. Island South was ablaze, the flames fanned by the wind and raging out of control. It had already consumed Weyland's office and the control room and looked like it would soon spread to the rest of the complex. She saw Rathbone stagger to his feet beside her.

"Come on!" She began pulling Selim and Isaac to their feet, brushing as much of the glass off them as she could "Come on boys, we have to go – now!"

The two children didn't need any persuading; both of them now seemed in the grip of some powerful survival instinct. They ran alongside her, shadowing her movements like hunting dogs keeping pace with a deer, back down the corridor away from the punishing heat.

Towards the bridge, across the dark water…

* * *

Diana groaned and lifted up her head. The first thing she saw was Himura and she gasped in shock. He'd been impaled by a jagged spur of metal, the end of it jutted from his chest, scarlet with innards.

She tried to piece together the last few minutes but her head felt fuzzy on the details. They'd managed to take off but then something must have happened to the other helicopter, because it had struck them. After that, a blur; at some point the aircraft had turned upside down and they were shaken around like peas in a can, then a bone-jarring crunch.

She realised she was still strapped into the chair. Finally able to make her numb hands work enough to undo the seatbelt, she fell to the floor. The angle they were at she guessed the copter must be lying on its side. The belt had saved her life – she noticed that Himura had not been wearing his. Neither had Pascoe and Karlsson by the look of things. The only one who had was …

"Farrell?" She said woozily as she recognised the man hanging from the opposite wall.

He groaned, pulling ineffectually at the straps "What the… fuck happened?"

"How should I know?" She was trying to sit up.

He managed to free himself, tumbling to the floor and pushed himself to his knees, screwing his face up in pain "Argggh, Christ!"

Diana wobbled upright on the uneven surface. She might have been confused and shaken but she was a natural bully and she didn't tolerate weakness in underlings. Her expression hardened as she looked over at the minder.

"Pull yourself together man!" She snapped "I thought you were supposed to be ex-special forces!"

His stubbly scarred face twisted in anger "Can't a guy take a five minute breather after a goddamn near-death experience?!"

"Not on my payroll." She said curtly "Now get yourself a weapon. Go get Karlsson's. You can start making yourself useful!"

She watched impatiently as he began the unpleasant task of prising his pulse rifle from his former colleague's cold, dead hands.

"Now you can get me Pascoe's gun."

"What?"

"I don't know where we've crash landed," She said through gritted teeth "But I'd feel a lot better with a weapon."

He didn't argue but retrieved the other guard's gun and handed it to her.

They finally managed to pull themselves to the door of the stricken copter and haul themselves out into the wild night air, the sky so dark they could barely see.

"Island North!" Farrell looked around in dismay at their surroundings, beyond the puddled platform they could see waves big as houses looming up beneath. In whatever brief period they had been lying stunned inside the copter, the strong winds had intensified.

They picked their way round to check on the pilot. Despite managing to crash-land the craft and save their lives, he had lost his own. They both looked around wildly. Apart from the exotic's spaceship – which neither of them knew how to operate – there were no other aircraft on this Island.

Even from here they could see the fire continue to blaze on Island South, spreading across the structure. Neither of them cared to try their luck on one of the lifeboats in this roiling ocean.

"Ma'am!" Farrell bawled "How the hell are we gonna get outta here?"

"We have to find Woods." She shouted, struggling to be heard about the wailing of the wind "I'll bet she's still alive, she has a talent for it." An idea struck her "And I'll bet she's on her way over right now to join forces with that murdering animal, we just have to find her and persuade her to fly us out of here."

Both of them stood for a few minutes, hesitating to make a move towards the lower decks, knowing what was lurking there.

* * *

"Do we have to go?" Isaac eyed the sealed doors of South Terminus with trepidation.

Lex felt a wave of pity for him wash over her "I'm sorry Isaac, we have to get to the ship." She said "But I'll protect you, I promise."

"You must have courage Isaac!" Selim gripped his friend's shoulder "We have to find my Father, you heard what Farrell said! And what about Iverssson?"

Isaac stood chewing his fleshy lower lip for a moment as he looked at his friend, then he nodded very slightly.

Lex turned to Rathbone "Well?" She demanded "Are you going to open it?"

His mouth twisted but he must know they had no choice; even now they could feel the heat from the fire that was gradually drawing closer.

He pressed his palm to the recognition pad, put his eye to the scanner and the door slid open to reveal the long corridor between South and North Terminus. The small railcar stood dormant on this side.

The door closed behind them and they began to walk briskly across the bridge. The glass wasn't so thick here as it had been in Weyland's office. She could hear the wind moaning as it whipped the sea up against the glass, huge waves exploding against the walls and roof.

"Stay close to me boys." She hissed to the two children and as one they drew nearer, shrinking against her legs. She could see why, it looked like the gateway to a modernist Hades – long and bleak, harsh fluorescent lighting guttering like a candle in the breeze. The walkway even seemed to sway slightly, whether from the wind outside or the effects of the fire she wasn't sure.

Lex's eyes narrowed. She couldn't see any signs of the hard meat, but that didn't mean they weren't close.

"That Bonehead's got a sixth sense about those filthy things, what I wouldn't give to have him here with us…" She swallowed down a little flicker of tightness in her throat "I can't allow myself to feel. Keep moving forward, that's the best thing, keep on getting closer to the shuttle."

"Come on," She hissed at the two children "I think we can start moving a little faster now." She began to move more quickly, still cautious, keeping her plasma gun handy. The hard meat had been coming across from North to South so they must have done so via this walkway, but she couldn't see any trace of them. If they had come across openly she would have expected to see some signs of it; drool on the floor – the bugs left slime and mucus wherever they went – and there would surely have been scorch marks or even bullet holes from a struggle. There were none of these things.

At their backs there was a tinkle of glass as the little viewing pane in the solid metal door shattered and a hot draft whirled through from Island South, blowing broken shards onto the bridge. Through the hole there came the noise of something groaning, warping in the heat.

* * *

Iversson sat staring into the darkness of the elevator shaft. The exotic was gone and she was alone.

Panic rose up like a storm inside, threatening to choke her.

Her pulse raced and she gasped for breath. Hyperventilating, she fought to regain control "I must be calm, I must be calm, I _must_ be calm! I know the way out of Island North." She told herself "All I have to do is keep my head!"

She looked around. He had thrown her into one of the corridors that ran alongside an external wall. The wall was not entirely glass as it was over on South, but there were still large windows looking out over the water. Iversson squinted through the brine flecked pane, trying to orient herself by their position in relation to the other Island. She noticed with a start that part of the complex seemed to be on fire "What in the name of all that's holy can have happened?"

There was a noise beneath her and she looked down. The dark was coming to life and reaching for her, climbing up the shaft.

Iversson scrambled backwards desperately across the floor, only stopping when her back hit solid metal. The crooked shape of one of the creatures – the 'hard meat' the exotic had called them – appeared slowly. It raised its obscene head, seeming to scent the air in the half dark. Then, heart-stoppingly, it turned in her direction.

Iversson cringed back against the wall as it slunk across the floor towards her, moving so easily, so unnaturally. She was rooted to the spot, unable to flee or even to scream. There was no way out, she'd seen these things run. In this long corridor it would easily catch her, even without her twisted ankle.

As it advanced on her, she whispered a silent prayer. Long strings of sticky drool spilling down the front of her jacket, coating her hands and puddling in her lap and she shook with fear and revulsion.

Then she froze as she felt its breath on her face, whistling and hissing like that of a dying man. She almost screamed as it sniffed and nudged her with its vile jaws, coating her in foul smelling slime. Tears oozed from the corners of her eyes and she screwed them shut, not wanting to see what would come next. A tiny whimper escaped her as it seemed to almost nuzzle its horrible snout against the side of her neck, expecting every second it would rip her apart. Her mind was just a blur now, just the same, simple prayer over and over "Ohpleasenopleasenopleasenopleasenopleasenonono –"

Then, just as she felt she would go mad with terror, it suddenly withdrew. She stayed for a few moments, frozen to the spot.

When she finally opened her eyes it was gone.

She dropped forward onto her hands and knees, fighting the urge the vomit or pass out so great was her relief. For a moment she couldn't understand what had happened but then it suddenly dawned on her, like a light going on "Danzig's hormone tag, it worked! Thank God it worked! The thing must have thought I was already carrying one of their larvae."

The realisation gave her strength. She'd thought the situation was hopeless, that she could never escape from this place without the exotic's help, but now she realised there was a chance, however slim.

"Isaac!" She thought "He could be burned to death or be slaughtered. I can't stay here shivering like a fool, I have to find him!"

Iversson pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain in her ankle, and set off towards the bridge.


	30. Chapter 30

Scar fell.

Grappling with the strangling creatures coiled around him, he tried to keep teeth and claws at bay, knowing better than to use his blades or plasma gun _"I must not make them bleed, the water beneath me will become an acid bath!"_

Over and over they tumbled as he plummeted downwards, mazing his senses. He managed throw off two of the hard meat by flailing them madly against the wall, battering them, scraping them off on the metal, standing the pain as his shoulder glanced off it too. Still falling, he heard their piercing shrieks as they dropped.

The last bug clung on despite all he could do. It wrapped its tail and limbs around his and he pulled back a fist and punched it squarely in the forehead, snapping its head back. It snarled and drew its grimacing face near to his, as close as a lover, fetid breath making a sheen of condensation on his mask. Pushing back with all the strength in his arms Scar held it off, always aware of the striking inner mouth. It raked its claws across his skin, making long ragged gashes.

Together they plunged into stinking, freezing water. The cold was almost as devastating as the impact, driving the air out of him in a shocked gasp. He hadn't fallen nearly as far as he was expecting so he guessed the shaft must be more than half full already. He felt the coiling strength of the hard meats tail winding around his legs and he was suddenly sinking like a stone, struggling not to give in to the reflex that wanted him to gulp air into his lungs, knowing he would only be sucking down filthy liquid. The bug would not let go.

" _No!"_ He thought desperately _"I will not surrender my bones to lie in this putrid abyss!"_ Throwing out one arm he managed to grab hold of the metal rungs of the service ladder the human scientist had clung to. Still fending off the deadly grin with one hand he pulled himself up. Oily foam churned around them as the water level rose, the current seeking to tear his talons off the rung but he held on grimly. Giving it everything he had, he managed to drag himself clear of the scummy surface, the hard meat still twined around him like a constrictor.

Hooking one arm around the metal to anchor himself he caught it by the throat and finally managed to tear himself free, ripping its limbs from his. As it squealed and thrashed to regain its hold on him he hurled it across the shaft, knowing this would only win him a temporary reprieve but he could not afford to spill its blood into the swirling depths surging up towards him.

He was already climbing as fast as he could when he heard the hard meat hit the wall and splash down into the water. Moments later more splashing noises told him that it or one of its fellows had probably emerged and was already leaping up towards him.

Not even wasting breath to curse he concentrated all effort on pulling himself upwards, but he knew that this wasn't going to save him. He could climb fast but not faster than the hard meat, and he was not even able to make them bleed – a serious disadvantage.

His mask was showing him that a couple of clicks up there was a tunnel leading off this shaft, some sort of service tunnel or vent no doubt. _"If I can just make it there before the water and the hard meat it might buy me some time."_ He thought _"Although things might get tricky once the water begins to fill that tunnel as well. I just have to hope it is not a long tunnel."_

He hauled himself up over the lip of the shaft just as the first hard meat reached him, leaping onto his back. He turned with a snarl as he felt long slender hands on his shoulders and seized hold of them, feeling the bones grind together as he crushed them. Tearing its arms from round his neck he swung the hard meat round and drove it into the wall with his shoulder, using his weight to keep it pinned. Wet and slippery as it was, he struggled to keep a grip as it lunged at him, nearly breaking his hold, striking jaws shooting forth a hairsbreadth from his face. He snaked his head to one side, away from the chisel teeth that wanted to shatter his skull.

Scar wasn't even thinking rationally any more. His breath came out in hard gasps, sweat and filthy water almost freezing onto his skin in the shattering cold. All higher thought processes had been obliterated by a primal instinct to tear his enemies to shreds. He roared in the hard meats face as he crushed it against the side of the tunnel. He felt no fear; there was no room for any. Nothing existed but the scalding torrent of rage. Its skin was hot like their flesh always was, pulsing with the caustic blood underneath. Iron claws bit into his arm and his own blood glowed green in the darkness. He could feel it gathering its strength for a counter-attack, coiling like a spring against the side of the tunnel.

It opened its jaws to scream at him and then abruptly both of them were bludgeoned to one side as the water reached them. For a few seconds they swayed together, fighting against the deluge and each other, trying to keep their feet under the thunderous barrage. More and more water rushed in, the force increasing with every passing second as the level got higher and higher. Then they were swept away, rolling over and over still clinging to each other, struggling and gouging, sucked down by the current into the oily depths.

* * *

Rathbone could feel the bridge tremble as the fire on Island South billowed towards them. A small corner of his terrified mind that was surprised it could stay lit in these high winds, but then he realised there was probably plenty of accelerant around the complex, fuel and oil for it to feed on.

Lex was already a few feet ahead of him "Any minute it's going to start spreading onto this bridge."

He swallowed "We'll be fucked from both ends!"

She didn't answer him but turned and began to run taking the two boys with her, sprinting down the corridor towards Island North, seemingly without any fear of the hideous monsters that he expected to leap out on them at every moment.

He stood for a moment, petrified by indecision. Then, over the moaning of the wind he heard a tortured creaking and crunching from Island South. That spurred him into action, he began to run after them. Then the bridge shuddered again and he looked back to see a spurt of flame and sparks fountain through the broken window pane as something collapsed on the other side of the door. There was a shivering quake which shook the bridge and he was alarmed to see it continued to sway the parallel lines of the corridor bending and warping like an optical illusion – disorienting to the senses.

As he began to run faster the strip lights in the corridor flickered and then died "The generator on South must've finally given it up!"

The corridor suddenly went dark, the only illumination now the flickering orange light from the fire behind them. They skidded to a halt, as one of the vent covers in the ceiling behind them burst open spilling out thrashing shapes that bounced upright the instant as they hit the floor.

Lex didn't slow down but she did thrust the two boys behind her, putting herself between them and the dark coiling tails and clutching hands of the creatures. She raised her forearms defensively and the blades at her wrists came shooting out. As one of the monsters struck at her with its tail she swung, cutting off the razor sharp tip, dancing to one side as the vile thing brought its claws into play, slashing at her so fast he could hardly follow it. She swayed backwards, almost as if she were falling but it was clear she had her body under complete control. He watched, fascinated, as she sheathed the blades and drew out the spear from her back holster in one fluid movement.

As it sprang at her she swept the spear around in an arc that sliced through the front of the monsters head, bisecting its slick brow, stepping back smartly out of the way of the acid blood that rained down. As it staggered and started to fall, the second darted forward over the corpse of the first. Long strands of spittle stretched from its mouth as its jaws gaped open, the inner mouth sliding out.

She rammed the spear forward between its jaws, skewering it, the point bursting through at the back of its neck. She was jerked forward as the thing became a dead weight hanging from the point of her spear and she braced her booted foot against its head and wrenched it free.

"Selim?"

"Yes Mei'Varsi?" Her son answered.

"Take my plasma gun." His mother handed the weapon to him "If you see the hard meat shoot them, but take care the blood does not touch you, either of you."

"Yes, Mei'Varsi." The boy nodded, steady and unafraid. Rathbone was impressed.

"Iversson's brat's terrified out of his mind," He thought "The other little half breed should be pissing in his pants but he looks like this is business as usual!"

At that moment there was another tormented groan and a strong tremor shook the bridge, causing all four of them to stagger to one side.

Lex didn't miss a beat. Retracting the blades of the spear she thrust it back in its holster and seized the hands of the two boys, starting to run again. They sprinted down the swaying walkway towards Island North, ever stronger quakes causing them to skid and stumble. As they reached the door Lex threw herself up against it, pressing her face to the small viewing window at the top. Seeing the corridor beyond was clear she smacked her palm repeatedly against the control panel but nothing happened.

"Rathbone!" She held out a desperate hand to him "Your pass! You have to open it!"

He swiped his card pass, pressed his palm to the recognition pad and his eye to the optic sensor but the door remained obstinately shut "It's the power-out!" He had to bellow it over the now deafening noise of twisting metal "Mechanism's glitching, won't work from this side."

She pulled the spear again, smashing the glass in the window with the butt of it, using the handle to knock the remaining shards of glass out of the frame.

"Boys!" She said "You're small enough to fit through – Selim, come here!"

"Mother, I will not leave you!"

"Do as I tell you! You have to try and open the door from inside, then you can to let us through!"

He fell silent and let her boost him through the window, squeezing through the narrow opening and dropping lightly to the floor on the other side.

Then she turned to Isaac who stared up at her with huge, terrified eyes rimmed with tears "Selim's Mom, I don't want to go in there with the monsters!" He wailed.

"Isaac!" She gripped his shoulders and knelt before him "You have to go through there and open the door. Be brave sweetheart. I need you to help each other!"

He sniffed and swallowed. It was heart breaking to see him trying to summon up his courage. "Alright." He said, hoarse with terror.

"You know they won't be able to open the door from in there!" Rathbone hollered at her after Isaac had scrambled through. The noise was now so loud he didn't worry the two children would be able to hear him "They haven't got the right biometrics to open it! Eyes are all wrong."

"I had to get them through the window somehow." She yelled, the shaking of the floor nearly causing her to lose her footing. Both of them were now pressed up against the door, it was the only way they could stay upright "Even if you and I end up dead, at least my boys have a chance!"

"But what about those monsters?"

"This bridge is unstable, they're not stupid!"

He grabbed her upper arm "If I lift you, you could wriggle through –"

"That's very flattering, but I'm not _that_ slender."

"Gotta be better than waiting here to die!"


	31. Chapter 31

A corridor on one of the upper levels of Island North.

On the wall about halfway up, a trickle of water began to run from the bottom rim of a riveted metal panel, covering the opening to the elevator service hatch. Just a drop or two at first, but growing steadily. Then a rivet burst out like a bullet from a gun: ping! which released a thin stream water like a tiny geyser. It was followed by another rivet and another;

Ping!

Ping!

 _Crack!_

As one struck the window opposite, hairline fractures appeared in the glass. Water was now shooting from the holes left by the rivets, forced through under great pressure.

Then something hit the panel from the inside, once, again and then again. It warped and bent out of shape as something struck it repeatedly until, with a rending squeal, the battered metal gave way and Scar and the hard meat shot out of the cramped tunnel like some lashing, hissing afterbirth. Along with them spewed a tidal wave of cold slime and filth, quickly turning the corridor into a swamp. Scar was on his feet first and a split second later the hard meat was up and on the attack. It launched itself at Scar and he just had time to look up and see it coming before its razor claws hit him in the chest, knocking him into the putrid water. The pair of them rolled over and over, grappling with each other, fighting to get a grip on skin that was slippery with ooze.

Dodging a slashing blow from its tail, Scar managed to struggle upright and with a snarl of fury he seized the bug by one arm and leg. Ignoring the vivid green gore flowing down his chest he swung the thrashing body, slamming it straight into the damaged window opposite. The glass shattered in a glittering shower as the drone went right through, dropping out of sight and disappearing into the pitch black.

The moment he was sure it had gone, Scar ripped his mask from his face so he could half cough and half vomit up the foul liquid that had all but drowned him.

When he had stopped retching he staggered to the edge of the window, still gagging a little from the taste of the polluted water, and gazed down. There was nothing to see but blood dark depths.

Scar stared.

He had never really seen the ocean before – he remembered a glimpse of something like this in Antarctica but at the time he'd been too preoccupied with fighting for his life to take much notice.

Now, as the huge waves rolled beneath him, he understood why this complex seemed to be in perpetual motion. Although Iversson had told him they were surrounded on all sides by water he had pictured something like a vast lake. He'd never before seen waves that looked like mountains looming up to meet him. It was really quite breath-taking.

There was no sign of the hard meat but he very much doubted it was dead – the kainde amedhe were strong swimmers.

" _Who cares, for now it is out of my way."_ Scar shrugged, tossing his head, trying to shake off the last traces of the nausea though his stomach continued to lurch. He glanced at the hatch, still gushing water. He was ankle deep in frigid foulness already. There might be more hard meat on their way here right now, and the Queen was undoubtedly on the move. Her lust for vengeance and the flooding of the lower levels would drive her upwards, only a matter of time before she found her way to him ... or to Lex and Selim.

" _I will not allow it!"_ He told himself _"I shall carve my way to them, through the hard meat... and the soft."_

* * *

Lex stumbled to one side, nearly losing her footing as the floor shook. She and Rathbone were now pressed up against the door, it was the only way they could stay upright

"It was the only way," She told him "Even if you and I end up dead, at least my boys have a chance now!"

"But what about those monsters?"

"This bridge is unstable, they're not stupid!"

He grabbed her upper arm "If I lift you up you could try to wriggle through –"

"Very flattering, but I'm not _that_ slender!"

"Gotta be better than waiting here to die!"

Suddenly the door slid open, taking both of them by surprise and they fell forward. Lex looked up the barrel of the pulse rifle into Diana Weyland's eyes, chillier than the glinting gunmetal.

"Put your hands on your head Woods."

A quick glance to her right and she saw Farrell holding Selim and Isaac, a meaty arm around each of their throats so they couldn't move. In one hand he held her plasma cannon. She couldn't see Rathbone but she could sense him standing behind her. They stood at an intersection of three corridors, two of which led off into darkness. She could just make out a murky stairwell, away down the third.

Lex lifted her hands up slowly, no sudden movements. However little respect she had for the Weyland she had total respect for the weapon. Being shot in the head by a nervous amateur made you no less dead than being shot by a seasoned assassin.

"Alright Diana." She kept her voice level "Why don't you just tell Farrell to let the boys go? You're scaring them."

"I don't think so." Weyland snapped "You're all coming with me."

Lex felt another tremor in the floor, the sounds of the fire blowing in with the hot breeze through the ravaged porthole in the door to the bridge "If you let me go, I promise I won't hurt you."

"You're not the one calling the shots here _Lex."_

"How are you even going to get off this complex without me Diana?" She said reasonably. "Help won't be arriving from the mainland anytime soon. Now the copters are gone and Island South is all but destroyed there aren't any more aircraft apart from my ship – "

"You seem very well versed on what resources I have at my disposal," Weyland shot Rathbone an angry look, clearly guessing her source of information "But just so we're clear this isn't a negotiation! We've got your **children** so if you want them to make it out of here alive you'll shut up and do as you're told."

Lex thought for a moment, she needed to take the boys out of the equation somehow. Her eyes flickered over them, looking for some way to let them escape.

Farrell's grip on the plasma cannon was all wrong. He obviously didn't understand where the trigger was. Isaac was wild-eyed with fear but Selim… her son was watching her. Just like his father always did; calm and inscrutable, waiting to see what she'd do. Scar always seemed knew what she was thinking…

Subtly she began to shift her stance, ready to move "If I can just get that gun off her…" In the background she could just make out a noise, a low pitched groaning began to intrude on her hearing.

"Face it Diana," She said, holding Weyland's gaze "Without me you'll be stuck here with the monsters you've created, not to mention Selim's father. What do you think he'll do to you when he catches you?"

Weyland bared her teeth, perfect little pearls against the blood red of her lips "Don't bullshit me _Mommy_! I know _you'd_ do anything to protect your two little hybrid bastards but _I_ only need one of them to make it out of here alive. And as for the exotic - "

Suddenly Lex's gaze flashed over the other woman's shoulder to something behind her "There he is!"

It was a cheap trick but it worked. Weyland swung automatically round to see what she was looking at.

As her attention wavered, Lex's foot shot out and kicked the gun barrel sending a line of bullets raking across the ceiling.

At the same moment Selim bit down on the fleshy part of his captor's arm. As Farrell screamed Selim twisted violently to free himself, and the minder lost his hold on both children. Without hesitation Selim snatched up the plasma cannon the man had dropped and took off down the right hand corridor with Isaac on his heels.

"Get them back you moron!" Weyland shrieked as Farrell lumbered after them, still clutching his bleeding arm. The CEO barely had time to raise the assault rifle before Lex was on her, knocking the weapon out of her hands so it clattered to the floor.

She was about to spring after Farrell and the children when the low groaning suddenly intensified and the floor beneath them jumped, jarred by a huge impact. She, Weyland and Rathbone were all thrown violently to the floor as the bridge between North and South collapsed into the sea. For a moment all she could hear was the screech and moan of rending metal, the crashing and rumbling. A thick cloud of dust billowed over them as the ceiling fell in, blinding everyone.

When she could finally see again, Lex gasped in dismay. The corridor the children had run down was cut off, completely blocked by fallen debris.

"Selim!" She screamed "Isaac!"

She began to claw at the pile of debris blocking off the tunnel, desperately digging, flinging lumps of rubble and metal aside, when she suddenly felt the hard muzzle of a gun in her back.

"Freeze Beautiful."

* * *

Selim heard the roar like thunder behind but he didn't turn to see what it was. His mother had told him to run so he ran, hearing Isaac's light tread as he kept pace.

He ran through puddles of faltering light and shadows that swayed as the complex trembled and shook. Farrell's footsteps thudded down the corridor behind them, loud and clumsy in his ears.

Despite what his mother had said Selim knew that running away made him a coward. He could hear his father's sibilant growl inside his head _"When you fight an adult male you cannot afford to hessssitate, you must ssstrike when you have the chance!"_

His grip tightened on the plasma cannon.

The two boys rounded a sharp bend and suddenly Selim stopped dead, Isaac skidding to a halt a few paces further on. Before his friend's astonished eyes, Selim turned and raised the plasma gun. His breathing was deep and even and his hand was steady.

Before Isaac could even ask his friend what the hell he was thinking Farrell thundered around the corner and Selim opened fire, the bluish white plasma burst lighting up the corridor. Farrell was caught off guard but with a speed that belied his large size he hurled himself down, rolling as he hit the floor. The blast missed him by inches scoring the metal wall behind.

As the minder dived for cover, Selim flattened himself against the wall pulling Isaac along with him. Next to them was an elevator shaft, the doors stuck half open, and the two children ducked inside, Selim still holding the gun ready.

Isaac his arm "Selim what are you _doing?_ " He hissed anxiously "We shoulda kept running, now we're trapped!"

"Yautja do not run, we fight." It seemed to his friend that Selim's voice had change. Somehow, it sounded deeper, his strange accent stronger than usual.

"Fight?" Isaac hissed "But Farrell's gonna –"

"We fight here. Now."

At that moment the minder's voice rang down the corridor "Give it up you little pussies!"

Isaac opened his mouth to speak but Selim shook his head very slowly, his yellow eyes fixed on his friend's, willing him to find courage.

"Get the fuck out here!"

"I have a gun!" Called Selim in a trembling voice.

Isaac was astonished. Selim sounded like a scared little boy but then his friend grinned and it was clear the fear was an act.

"You ain't got the stones to shoot me you mutant rugrat!" Farrell bellowed "Come out now and I won't beat you black and blue!"

As he watched his friend, Isaac's own breathing had slowed until it was in time with the other boy's.

"Get out here before I drag y'out!"

Selim stood up, everything about his stance suggested he was sharp and ready for the attack. He darted his head round the door for an instant. Seeing the corridor was clear, he slipped an arm round – plasma gun ready.

"Alright, we're coming out!" He called "But you have to promise not to hurt me!"

Selim's attention was now focused wholly on the corridor outside the elevator when he heard Isaac make a strangled noise.

Turning reluctantly from his ambush, he saw his friend; eyes bulging, focusing on something behind him. Following Isaac's petrified gaze he saw a shape uncurling itself from a dark opening in the roof of the elevator. A long spindly tail descended, the razor point curving towards them like the head of a snake.

Selim grabbed Isaac by the shoulder and dragged him bodily into the corridor, at the same time bringing the muzzle of the plasma caster swinging round to cover the hard meat. It straightened up until it seemed to him it filled the elevator, tall and menacing. Then it lunged, jaws gaping hungrily.

Selim didn't hesitate. As soon as he felt his heels touch the wall opposite he opened fire, throwing himself and Isaac to one side as far away from the creature as possible. The hard meat took the blast in the chest and its ribcage shattered, hot plasma vaporising the blood in an acrid cloud that blew into the elevator. It hit the deck lifeless, the smell of burning metal and plastic filling the air.

Selim turned to Isaac in triumph, his friend's expression mirroring his own joy "I killed it!"

There was a feeling like a wasp sting on his thigh. Looking down he saw a large black feathery thing sticking out of his left leg. Then Isaac's aghast face was falling away, as if he were disappearing down a long dark tunnel.

In reality it was Selim who was falling, blacking out as the strong drugs took him over.


	32. Chapter 32

Scar prowled the seemingly endless corridors of Island North, every sense on high alert. He wasn't especially worried about stealth at this point, not now the hard meat already knew of his presence. A fully grown yautja male in a nest of hard meat was about as welcome as a joint of putrefying meat in a dining hall. He doubted they would be likely to forget he was here.

 _"Sooner or later it will come to the knife edge and the bugs will attack,"_ He thought _"As long as they hold off for now, I have more important matters to deal with."_

He was no longer up to his calves in polluted water. The further down the corridor he went the dryer it became, which was all to the good. It left him free to use his blades on any kainde amedhe that crossed his path.

In his younger days Scar would have revelled in this, the dizzying euphoria of the kill would have electrified him. Now, the thrill he felt was dampened by anxiety; for Lex, for Selim. Even for the strange facsimile of his son he felt… something. He wasn't able to quite put a talon on what that feeling was and yet it was there, a nagging little phantom limb. At the very least he was curious about the child.

It was his son that occupied his thoughts most. Lex could look after herself but Selim…

 _"He is too gentle in temperament, too slow to violence!"_ He brooded, the ever present churning of the waves heightening his anxiety _"Perhaps I should have been harder on him. Beaten him! Treated him as R'Zuul would have. Perhaps it would have made him tougher, stronger! Perhaps…"_

But he knew it was all nonsense. He only had to picture himself beating the boy as R'Zuul had done him to imagine straight away Selim's look of bewildered hurt. Something inside him shrivelled in horror at the thought of betraying his son's heroic ideal of him.

 _"She was right,"_ He realised _"She is always right about such things. Even if he does not become the greatest warrior ever to draw breath, even if he is soft and weak! I will never let pain enter his life. I will die before I let harm touch him."_

At that moment, he heard plasma fire and then voices ringing down the metal corridor.

"Selim! Wake up!"

Scar stopped in his tracks. His fear had become flesh.

* * *

"Wake up Selim!" Isaac shook his friend frantically " ** _Selim!_** _"_

He was cut off as Farrell seized him and smashed him across the face with a meaty hand "You crazy little shithouse rat!" He roared in Isaac's face "Fucking shoot at me would you?"

Isaac's head was snapped up and to the side. The shock and pain coupled with the stress of the last few hours did something to him. He'd been half out of his mind with fear, fleeing from those things over on Island South, the helicopter crash and the explosion and the fire and then the nightmare creature jumping out of the dark elevator shaft. Now Farrell was shouting at him and hitting him? Isaac lost control.

"You hurt Selim!" He yelled, lashing out with his fists and feet. He caught the man a glancing blow on the cheekbone whilst his foot connected with the unprotected part of Farrell's stomach. The man bellowed and hurled him away. Isaac crashed shoulder-first into the wall and fell heavily. Now at eye level with the floor he saw Selim's plasma cannon lying only a few feet away and scrambled towards it but before he could get to it Farrell's booted foot crushed down on his hand.

Isaac's teeth gritted together. His hand hurt so bad he could hardly stand it but something kept him from crying out. His insides felt hot – all bubbling and ready to boil over. He struck with his free hand, raking his claws across the back of the man's bulky, calf muscle. The talons easily sliced through the material of Farrell's trouser leg and gouged bloody trenches in the flesh. In return the minder dealt him a savage kick in the ribs. As Isaac doubled up, trying to protect his stomach, Farrell yanked him to his feet and punched him in the gut. He began coughing and retching as Farrell mashed him against the wall, bringing his face so close Isaac could feel the spittle showering his cheek when he spoke.

"You little freak!" He hissed "You've fucked with the wrong guy!"

"You don't – scare – me!" Isaac gasped in-between retches, even though he was scared.

"Weyland only needs one of you mongrels brought back in one piece," Farrell sneered mockingly in Isaac's ear "Payback time, spoiled bitch!"

The minder's hand closed on his throat but though Isaac scrabbled madly to break free, it was as if he had no strength. The iron fingers kept squeezing no matter what he did. Isaac's head felt as if it was about to explode, spots flashed in front of his vision and he could hear horrible gurgling sounds. A red storm of panic swept in as he realised they were coming from his own throat.

Then, something changed. Despite what Farrell was doing to him, Isaac was suddenly aware of the cold and the stillness in the corridor around them. Looking over Farrell's shoulder he saw a shadow standing behind him. One moment it wasn't there and the next it was, materialising out of the dark.

The minder didn't even notice the huge figure at his back until it growled; a strange clicking purr that didn't sound like any noise made by a person.

Farrell froze, his pupils pinpricks of terror. Then everything turned upside down and Isaac fell to the floor gasping great lungfuls of air as the minder was snatched up.

When Isaac had glimpsed the mask he'd thought for an instant Selim's mother had come to save them but now he realised it couldn't possibly be her. His swimming eyes travelled up… and up.

"It's not Selim's Mom," He thought "He's even bigger than Farrell!"

The giant lifted the minder by the throat as easily as if he were made out of straw or feathers, just like he didn't weigh anything at all.

Then, a voice like metal grinding on metal: "Payback time?"

Isaac suddenly knew who – or what – was standing in front of him. He had heard that voice before, in the hot prison cell that had haunted his nightmares ever since.

The monster brought its face close to Farrell's.

"Unpleasant… is it not," It snarled "To be at someone's… mercy?"

Farrell made a strangled noise, unable to answer. On the floor, Isaac began to grope desperately for the plasma gun, no more able to take his terrified gaze from the monster than Farrell could.

The huge clawed hand reached through Farrell's stomach and up into his chest. The minder gasped, the quiet noise somehow worse than screaming as a shower of thick, dark liquid poured onto the floor. Finally a strangled squeal did escape Farrell's clenched teeth and his legs started to kick as if he were trying to run in mid-air. Then the monster tore its hand free of Farrell's chest, a grisly lump clutched in its fist. It held it before the minder's purple face and squeezed.

Isaac watched in horror as Farrell danced a frantic jitterbug, twitching and jerking as a hot shower of innards poured down his legs.

The moment his struggles stopped, the monster dropped him – as if it had got bored. It wiped its gory hand on its leg, smearing sticky redness onto its pale, mottled skin.

Then it turned towards Selim.

As if by magic, Isaac unfroze. He dived forward, snatching up the plasma cannon from the blood-spattered floor and pointed it straight at the huge shadow.

"No!" He croaked, but the monster did not hear him. As it stretched out a massive taloned hand towards Selim's unconscious body, Isaac found his voice.

"Stay back monster!" He screamed "Or I'll shoot you!"


	33. Chapter 33

Scar stopped dead as the child levelled the plasma gun at his chest. At this range, he knew the sivk'va-tai would varnish his vital organs across a wall.

They stood facing each other, Scar measuring up his small assailant _"He truly is identical to Selim,"_ He thought _"His voice, his eyes, his expression; virtually indistinguishable!"_

Common sense told him he should kill this creature _"The facsimile is unimportant, irrelevant!"_ He told himself _"The most logical course is to get him out of the way so that I may take my son and go."_

He was about to unsheathe his blades ready to attack, when the child spoke again, "If you hurt my friend I'll kill you!" He said, his voice shrill but determined.

For some reason the words caught in Scar's chest. He might be an unholy replica, but the facsimile had courage. He was clearly afraid, yet here he was facing down an adult yautja male. For the first time Scar looked at him with real interest _"My blood courses through his veins, though he knows it not."_ He thought _"Brought up in a human prison, yet here he stands ready to kill me. Perhaps he has something of me about him after all…"_

More importantly, he was risking his life to protect Selim. That in itself was enough to make Scar think better of him.

He could think of at least three ways to disarm the child but all of them involved seriously hurting him and suddenly Scar didn't want to do that, not yet. Not unless he had to. Some marrow-deep instinct in him recoiled at the idea.

The facsimile's chest was heaving with distress _"If I move it is likely he will pull the trigger and if he hits me… he will leave himself and Selim unprotected_." He scowled under his mask _"I must convince him to drop the weapon, persuade him I am not a threat."_

Staring into yellow eyes round with fear, he could tell it would not be easy. He had no doubt that if Lex were here, she would quickly gain the boy's trust. If Selim would only wake up – but judging by the dart sticking from his son's leg, it was unlikely. It would have to be persuasion.

 _"The scientist told me what she named him,"_ He thought, racking his brain desperately _"I must remember!"_

* * *

Through the adrenaline blur of fear, Isaac heard the monster say his name.

"What?!" He gasped.

"Isaac" The monster said "This is what the humans... have called you... is it not?"

"How do you know m-my name?" He stammered.

The giant figure put its fearsome head on one side "Iversssssson," It rumbled "The scientissst. She… told me."

"What? Why?!"

"Because she… set me free."

Isaac couldn't imagine the woman he thought of as his mother turning this apparition loose "Why would she do that?!" He demanded.

"I... protected her. She wanted to …find you."

"Then why isn't she with you?"

"We became … separated."

"I don't believe you!"

It made a little motion, like a shrug "It is true. Do you know who… I am?"

For a moment, Isaac couldn't think what the creature meant. Briefly the thought flashed through his mind that it was about to tell him it was a human in disguise after all, just acting the part of a monster. Then he realised that was a silly, babyish idea and shook his head in disgust. The creature took his movement for a negative answer.

"I am Selim's father."

A little shockwave of cold ran over his flesh and Farrell's word's came back to him in a rush: "… no wonder you two are so hideous, being related to that big ugly motherfucker…"

Somehow, Isaac felt like this was the news he had been dreading all along. Not just recently, but his whole life. He didn't want this thing to be Selim's father. He wasn't sure why that should be so important to him but suddenly it was.

When he didn't answer it spoke again "Did you… hear me child? Selim is my… son."

"He can't be!" Isaac retorted, his voice thin and reedy in the dank echoing corridor "You're a … a… monster!"

"No, I am yautja. As Selim is."

"NO! Not Selim!" Isaac wailed, when the creature did not react he howled again " **Not him!** "

He wasn't able to think rationally. Had Selim used that word to describe himself? He couldn't remember. "It can't be true, it just can't!" He told himself "I won't let it be true. If I don't believe it, then it won't be true!"

"Do you wish me... to prove it?" The alien said.

Isaac continued to stare at him, petrified.

" _You comprehend my words do you not?"_ It said in the language Selim had taught him. Isaac didn't answer but something about his demeanour must have shown he understood.

"I thought so when I… saw you first." It purred "Selim … taught you our speech. Does that not …convince you?"

"I… I don't know." Isaac kept the gun pointed but suddenly he was unsure. He was mortally afraid of this thing but… now he had heard it speaking English it didn't seem quite so horrifying. Selim and the monster shared a secret language, maybe it _was_ telling him the truth. He thought hard, trying to untangle its words. He wished Selim was still awake.

"You need further evidence?" The creature thought for a moment "Very well. I am going to… take my mask off now boy…"

It reached up and undid the fastenings at its jaw and temples. As it pulled away the visor Isaac paled. He had forgotten how awful the face underneath that mask was, how weird and disgusting. Slitted pupils focused on him, four tusked jaws twitched like some sort of crab or insect or… he didn't know what.

His own mouth opened and shut in shock. The creature just stood there, watching him. Waiting.

After a moment or too Isaac's appalled expression morphed into a look of avid curiosity. There was something about its eyes. At first glance they just looked fierce, fierce and dumb like an animal's eyes. But if you looked long enough you could see this thing was smarter than an animal. And they reminded him of…

"You **do** look like Selim." He said slowly.

"Because he is myyyy sssson."

Isaac was mesmerised by those eyes, he didn't register that the creature had started to move slowly towards him "Why did you do that... to Farrell?" He asked.

"He hurt Selim."

"You …you killed him!"

"I give… death to any who threaten my … offspring."

"Your offspring?" Isaac didn't know the word "What does that mean?"

"It means my… children."

Isaac's eyes were huge golden pools "Your children?" He whispered. The alien nodded silently. Isaac's finger trembled against the trigger of the gun but he was transfixed, he couldn't look away from its face. He didn't even notice it was standing right in front of him.

Then suddenly it leapt, shocking Isaac so much he actually pulled the trigger. If the alien had been slower it would have been blasted point blank in the chest but in a blur too rapid to follow it knocked the muzzle aside and the glowing shot hit the wall. In the same flowing action it snatched the gun out of Isaac's hand, so fast it was a few seconds before he realised he wasn't holding it anymore. He shrank back in horror as the creature loomed over him

"You… shot at me!" It said.

Isaac tried to speak but his teeth were chattering as if he were cold "I'm s-sorry!" He managed to say through trembling lips.

For one long, dread-filled moment the alien stood looking down at him. Then its jaws spread apart. Isaac thought it would roar but instead it burst into a thunderous laugh – it could only have been laughter. When it looked back down at him you could see it was amused and not angry.

"You do not… flinch!" It said.

"Flinch?" Again Isaac ran up against a word he didn't recognise.

"You attack, you do not… shrink. You have courage. That is **good.** " It sounded surprised. As it leaned forward to look at him, the stink of blood filled Isaac's nostrils "I will not… hurt you, boy." It said "I want to **protect** you."

"But…" Isaac's arms dropped to his sides. He was bewildered, unsure what had just happened here and unused to praise from anyone other than Iversson.

"But…why d'you want to protect _me_?" He said, in a quavering voice.

The creature hesitated, scrunching his spiky brows up.

"Because you protected… Selim." He said finally, attaching his mask to his belt and lifting Selim's unconscious body in his arms. As Isaac watched in horrified fascination he pulled out some lengths of cord and knotted Selims wrists together. Then he dropped the loop of Selim's arms over his own neck, so his son's head was resting on his shoulder. He tied another cord between Selim's ankles and another round both of their waists, pulled tight so the boy was securely fastened against his chest. Then it turned its attention back to him.

"I am S'Kia. When I… speak you obey."

Isaac gave a scared nod. The alien paused, then handed the gun back to him

"You may…keep this." Selim's father gave him a terrifying grin "In case of … _monsters_."

The grin faded as a shivering scream split the heavy darkness, bouncing around the metal walls.

"What was that?" Isaac croaked.

"Death, boy." The alien's eyes glowed "Death is coming for us!"

* * *

Iversson felt the impact and heard a sound like "Whumpf!" She was knocked off her feet as a blast of powdery smog billowed around the corner. When it had dissipated a little she looked down. She was covered in dust.

"That noise came from the direction of the bridge!" She thought "If it's collapsed, I'll be trapped!"

Before she had time to feel afraid, she heard something over the ringing in her ears; voices! She fought the urge to cry out of sheer relief "For all I know it might be Weyland's guards come to shoot me."

As the tinnitus subsided, she was suddenly able to make out what was being said. A woman was speaking.

"You're making a mistake Weyland."

The Professor knew those ice cool tones; she was surprised at how happy she felt to hear Lex's voice.

"I very much doubt it." The CEO snapped "Rathbone, if she moves shoot her!"

Iversson couldn't stay quiet, she didn't want to risk anyone else getting killed.

"Stop! Hold your fire!" She cried.

"Who's there?" She heard Weyland shout "Show yourself!"

Slowly Iversson stepped around the corner with her hands in the air. A howling gale slapped her in the face. The falling bridge had torn the wall apart like a can opener and now there was a huge ragged hole. Through the wind and sea spray she could see the huge fire blazing on Island South. By its light it was possible to make out the collapsed bridge. Iversson could see that the nearest end of the bridge was still attached to Island North, but the far end had completely severed from South and now lay part submerged beneath the waves.

She took in the people in front of her. Weyland looked enraged and dishevelled. Rathbone looked surprised though he kept his main attention on the woman he was holding at gunpoint. But it was Lex's face that stopped Iversson in her tracks. It was calm and serene. She had seen that same expression on Lex's face the night of the break-out in Nevada.

Iversson had a horrible feeling there was going to be bloodshed.

"For God's sake Diana," She implored "We should be working together to escape, not fighting each other! Surely you see that."

"As usual Jeanette you've missed the point." Weyland said dismissively "This woman is a danger to everyone around her, just look at the trail of corpses in her wake!"

"You can't kill me Weyland." Lex sounded eerily self-possessed "I'm the one person who can pilot the shuttle."

"You think you lead a charmed life, don't you?" Weyland said, Iversson could hear her temper rippling under the surface calm "Your incompetence and mismanagement led my father and his whole team to their deaths in Antarctica but you walked away. You and your demon lover caused untold devastation at the Nevada facility and yet here you are -"

Lex smiled "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't interrupt me!"

"You can't order me." Lex told her smoothly "Look around Weyland. You're not in charge any more. You've unleashed this genie from the bottle and now you can't put it back."

"I've got a pretty good idea where to start." Weyland's cultured accent distorted into something ugly "This is where your trail of destruction ends Woods!"

Lex didn't seem at all afraid, instead she half turned her head towards Rathbone "What about you tough guy?" She purred "You aren't really going to shoot me?"

"Not to kill you." Came the chief of security's laconic response "There's plenty of places I could shoot you that'd leave you nice and passive but alive enough for our purposes."

"' _Our_ ' purposes?"

"Sure! I'm not into necrophilia." He gave a little smile.

Iversson recoiled in disgust at this but Lex seemed unperturbed. She raised a curving black brow and turned in his arms "There's no need for that," She said softly "I think you and I could work something out."

Iversson watched with a sense of unease that was bordering on nausea as Lex twined her arms around Rathbone's neck. The security chief didn't try to stop her.

"I thought you wanted to find the exotic?" He said.

"I changed my mind," She tilted her face up to his "After all… he can't do **_this_**."

And she kissed him.


	34. Chapter 34

Isaac watched as a wave of smiling devils came spilling out of the elevator shaft behind them.

Before he had time to scream Selim's father launched himself at the creatures, pulling two swords from a sheath on his back. The blades glittered as they sliced through the air; a whirlwind of death. It wasn't enough. As one hideous grin disappeared, another sprang up, and another and another. As fast as S'Kia could cut them down they kept on coming.

"Selim's mother!" The alien bellowed inbetween slashes "Lex! Where is she?"

"Back at the bridge!" Isaac gasped "But it's blocked! We can't get through – "

Selim's father growled "Take me to her!"

Isaac was about to reply that he wasn't even sure of the way when the devils halted their assault, as if waiting for something. Panting, the alien fell back until he was standing just in front of Isaac. Turning so that Selim was shielded from attack, he began to edge backwards, pushing Isaac along with him, restreating slowly from the creatures. Isaac could see his yellow eyes glowing in the dark "Child… when I tell you, run…"

He tailed off as a giant shape came slowly around the corner. At first, all Isaac could see was a giant set of grimacing jaws; the biggest, longest teeth he'd ever seen bared in a mirthless grin. The jaws were followed by a fearsome, crested head and huge grasping hands that gouged their long thin fingers into the metal of the wall. The body could not clearly be seen, but Isaac got a sense of a vast shadow cramped and folded into a space much too small.

As he stood paralysed with fear, the head turned in their direction, seeming to see them even without eyes. The jaws parted and Isaac expected to hear a shriek or a roar, but instead there was a hiss like scalding steam. It wasn't the noise made by a dumb beast, it had understanding behind it. It was a sound that said "Ah. There you are."

"Run boy," S'Kia grabbed his shoulder " **GO!** "

* * *

Iversson watched in dismay as Lex pulled Rathbone's mouth down on hers. Every hair on her head was standing on end, she couldn't even count how many ways this felt wrong. For one thing, if this was a desperate attempt to win the Head of Security's allegiance away from Weyland, it was ultimately doomed to fail. From what Iversson knew, Rathbone wasn't the type to choose kisses over cash. She also had a strong suspicion that however bad things were, they would get considerably worse if the exotic suddenly resurfaced at this precise moment.

Alarm bells might have been ringing a deafening peal in Iversson's head, but Rathbone clearly couldn't hear them. She could see him melting into that kiss, crushing Lex hard up against him.

There was the tiny but unmistakeable sound of metal on metal.

The Head of Security made a strange noise, a strangled grunt. His eyelids, which had floated closed, slammed open. Lex's arm was still around him but now she wasn't embracing him, almost she seemed to be holding him up or even trying to stop him breaking away. Iversson couldn't make sense of what she was seeing until suddenly she noticed them: the bloody points of the wrist knives sticking out of the side of his neck.

Then Lex tore her lips away from the kiss, spitting out a mouthful of his blood. She ripped the dah'kte free of his throat and a gout of scarlet sprayed across her and across the wall. As Rathbone tried to raise his gun, she knocked it from his hand with the flat of the blade, kicking it away from the gorey pool already spreading at his feet.

Weyland and Iversson stood rooted to the spot as he fell to his knees, strange gargling noises coming from his ruined throat. He was draining out like a cow in an abattoir right before their eyes.

Lex watched impassively as he pressed his hands to his neck, trying to stop his life from gushing between slippery fingers: "Sorry tough guy but it wouldn't work," She said, through lips shiny with blood "I'm not into necrophilia either."

* * *

When Selim's father roared at him, Isaac didn't need telling again. He turned and bolted back in the direction he and Selim had come, surprised to find he knew the way. The corridors of Island North had similarities to those over on South and Isaac had often explored those during his nighttime wanderings. He didn't dare stop to queston or even look behind to see whether the creature was following them. It had looked like it was too big to move very fast in the confines of the passageway, but if it was he didn't want to see it.

At this moment, when he should have been sobbing for fear, he felt faster, stronger, and more alert than he had ever felt in his life. Selim's surprising courage; the fight with Farrell; the moment the alien had told him he was brave too; in the space of half an hour Isaac felt like he had been changed forever. It was as if there wasn't time to be afraid and the fear had been pushed aside. Where there had been fear, now there was something else taking him over – a hot, scalding fire, spurring him on.

The weird cries of the demons as they leapt along the walls echoed in his ears. He and the alien raced down one passage after another, around corner after corner, until suddenly they ran up against the pile of fallen debris. As he thought, the way was cut off.

He and S'Kia spun as they reached it, putting their backs up against the rubble to face the coming threat. The alien did not draw his weapons but stood, fists clenching and unclenching, looking around for a way of escape.

As if in a trance, Isaac raised the gun Selim's father had given him towards the horrible shapes advancing down the corridor. Blue white light bounced around the corridor, striking enemies and wall and ceiling. There was a sharp noise beside them as one of the stray shots hit the window and a thick fissure crazed the glass. S'Kia's head jerked towards the sound.

Then, a shivering scream echoed up the tunnel, longer and louder than the ones that had gone before.

S'Kia appeared to reach a decision. He swept Isaac up in one arm and threw himself at the window. There was a crash as the glass shattered and then they were through into the night.

* * *

"How does it compare, Diana;" Lex said softly "Ordering someone's death from afar and actually watching them die?"

The CEO shook her head in silence, staring at the slowly spreading pool of Rathbone's blood.

"Alexa!" Iversson hissed "Put your knives away!"

Lex ignored her, advancing on Weyland. The CEO stood there shivering. Her gun lay only a few feet away, but as her eyes darted towards it, Lex moved round to cut off her path to the weapon.

"It's a whole lot different I'd imagine, but I wouldn't know." She continued as if Iversson hadn't spoken "Because when I kill, I do it myself – up close and personal." She flicked the dripping blades like a samurai, sending ribbons of gore spattering across the wall.

Iversson stepped forward "Alexa, listen to me – this isn't necessary, nobody else needs to die! _"_

"I've already killed one man tonight Professor," Lex told her tonelessly "One down, one to go. You know it's not the first time for me."

Iversson remembered that hollow voice from the night the laboratory burned down, but she refused to accept the woman she'd come to know over the last few weeks wasn't in there somewhere. No matter what awful things might have happened, there must be a way to reach the part of Lex that was still human.

"Alexa, it's different – you know it is!" She said quickly "Rathbone had a gun in your back and when you killed those guards to escape in Nevada; you were fighting for your child's life! Do you really think I don't understand why you killed them? But _she_ is unarmed; you don't really want to do this!"

"You're wrong. I _**really**_ do!"

"What about Jonas Haagens?" Iversson said suddenly and Lex turned in surprise "You fought to keep him alive! You fought with the exotic over him, didn't you? He wanted to kill Haagens but you begged him not to!"

"How do you know that?!"

"Haagens was wearing a wire," Iversson admitted "We heard you and the exotic fighting and we couldn't understand what you were saying, but when you came out of the ship it was clear to me that he wanted to execute Haagens and you were pleading for his life. I know that there's a part of you that still values life, Alexa. I've seen it."

Lex no longer looked impassive, she looked furious"Yes I begged Scar to spare Jonas, but he died anyway!" She hissed "I guessed he had ratted me out, but he still didn't deserve what they did to him!"

The Professor frowned "What they did…?"

"Theygave him to the hard meat, as a living host. Rathbone told me by mistake!" Lex snarled, and Iversson was surprised and frightened to see tears in her eyes. She was trembling with disgust and anger "Can you imagine the kind of person who does that to another human being?"

Iversson groaned inwardly as she realised Lex was right; she remembered the blonde-haired corpse in the egg-chamber and the exotic's brutal assessment _"No doubt he wished I had cut his throat! It would have been quicker…"_

Lex's chest was heaving, the look in her eyes made Iversson shudder but she refused to give in "What about Selim then?" She said "What about Isaac? What do you want them to see when they look at you – a cold-blooded murderer?"

It was the wrong thing to say _"Don't you dare use them to protect her!"_ Lex screamed, incensed beyond reason _"They're both safer with her dead and I've wasted enough time – "_

She turned towards the cowering Weyland, intent on ripping her apart, when she and Iversson and Weyland were suddenly thrown to the floor. The structure trembled as if shaken by an earthquake and a chasm yawned in front of them, as the floor was riven apart. They were left on one side of the gulf and Weyland on the other.

Then Iversson felt a jolt as the section of metal flooring directly beneath her feet collapsed….

* * *

As they burst through into freezing night Scar threw out his free arm, catching hold of the metal sill. He felt like he was operating on a level above anything he had ever experienced before. When he'd seen those hideous teeth and claws reach out for Isaac, instinct had taken over, bypassing his mental defences and giving him a supernatural strength and cunning. He could not let this child be harmed – this child who was an exact copy of his son.

" _The kainde amedhe want to take my offspring, let them try!"_ He thought _"I will lay waste to all of them and burn this nest of filth to ashes before I allow it!"_

A flood of supercharged adrenalin washed away the feeling of the glass shards cutting into his palm and he hung there, pulled in tight against the wall. After a moment, the snout of a hard meat appeared.

"Hold on." He growled at Isaac and the boy wrapped his wiry arms around the hunter's neck. At the sound of his voice, the kainde amedhe looked down with a little hiss of surprise but now Scar's second arm was free. He reached up and grabbed the hard meat by the throat, yanking it forward so that it plummeted into the boiling foam. He saw to it that the next one followed, tail whipping around uselessly.

Now Scar's feet had found a thin ledge beneath them and he had leverage. Above them he could see a pole jutting out, some sort of crane or joist. Bunching the muscles in his legs he leapt, clasping Isaac and Selim to him with one arm. His talons caught the spray-slicked metal and he swung himself and the children around and up, coming to land crouching atop it.

Two more bugs materialised from the window under them, scuttling up the wall. Scar looked around desperately, there was another pole jutting out further along the wall. He pulled his grapnel and fired, just able to see the little anchor bury itself in the metal. He tugged it quickly to make sure its hold was secure, then he jumped, feeling the line pay out as his weight dragged it down. Isaac yelped next to his ear as they plunged towards the waves, rushing past the hard meat, knocking one of them off the wall as they swung past. It squealed and flung out its claws, madly trying to climb in the salty air. As Scar caught the joist and pulled himself and the two boys up, the remaining bug wheeled around and began to leap along the wall towards them.

Scanning above and below for ways of escape he could see nothing but churning sea below and dark stormy sky above.

Scar knew he had to move, he could not risk a vertical battle. The hard meat could cling on any surface and he was already at a disadvantage, being encumbered by two children " _There is a very easy solution,"_ He thought _"I must be ruthless and throw off the replica…"_


	35. Chapter 35

As Scar hung over the heaving water, the two impulses fighting for dominance within him, he heard a roar and saw a bright flash out of the corner of his eye. It took him a split second to understand what it meant and then he suddenly realised; _"That came from behind me; the boy must have fired the plasma gun!"_

The first shot went wide, but looking back over his shoulder he saw Isaac take aim again, holding on with just one hand and his legs around Scar's waist.

The hard meat sprang closer and the boy fired again and then again, the third shot finding its target, blasting the bug off the wall. As it dropped twisting towards the waves Isaac craned forward to see and his grip on the hunter's shoulder began to slip, fingers slithering on wet skin. Scar's hand shot out like a striking snake to grab the boy's wrist, seizing him before he could fall. He could feel that fierce, protective instinct sweeping through him again like a drug.

A quick glance around confirmed his suspicions; more hard meat were emerging from the shattered window. His grip on Isaac tightened as he looked round desperately for a way of escape that would allow him to keep hold of both children. Then he leaned back against the wall behind and felt a cold, smooth surface _; "A window! But if I throw myself at the glass without weakening it first we will end up in the water…."_

"The gun boy… give it to me!" His own plasma cannon had long ceased to function, jammed up with gunk and slime from the flooded tunnel. A quick glance told him the kainde amedhe were nearly on them "Quickly!"

Isaac shoved the weapon at him clumsily and Scar grabbed it, turned and fired straight at the window. There was a shower of sparks but he could hear the glass creak and crack as it absorbed the heat. He seized Isaac's other wrist and pulled him round, hugging him against his chest. Wrapping the other arm around Selim he threw himself shoulder first at the weakened glass. His body screened the boys as hot fragments rained down but his armour plating protected him from the worst of the shrapnel.

He staggered upright in another gloomy corridor, still clutching the children to his chest.

There was a hiss in the darkness behind them.

Scar turned to find the drones waiting for him; an arsenal of glistening teeth swung in their direction. He began to edge backwards, gripping both children hard and putting his back to the wall.

He knew he had to make a stand. What he needed to do was put both boys down so that he could draw his weapons, but right now he didn't want to relinquish his hold on either of the small, warm bodies pressed against his chest. _"If I let them go, the hard meat will draw me out and then target the children. They always seek to pull down the weaker prey first… to take them back to the hive."_

In the stillness, Scar could hear their hissing breath; see it as clouds of steam drifting in the frozen air. The circle around him began to close. Even if he picked off a few with the plasma caster, the hard meat were so many. He might not be able to kill them all before he was overcome. He growled, brain working overtime find the plan which would give them the best chance _"The situation is desperate. I could drive them back enough to allow the facsimile to escape… but alone he will not last long and Selim is unconscious – he cannot run. For either of them to stand a chance, I need my arms free – I must fight!"_

As he watched, one of the bugs snarled at him and he snarled back but he couldn't intimidate them forever; if one leapt, he knew they all would.

Hating to let go but knowing he had no choice, he lowered Isaac to the floor, pushing the boy between himself and the wall.

"When they come," He growled, thrusting the plasma gun at Isaac without taking his eyes off the bugs "Do not… flinch!"

Reaching behind his back, he drew his twin swords. The hard meat nearest to him opened its snaggle-toothed mouth, hissing in invitation.

He roared in answer, bellowing a wordless challenge in its face…

* * *

 _"Iversson!"_

Lex threw herself forward as the Professor began the fall, just managing to grab hold of her arms. She was yanked to the floor and Iversson cried out in pain as her midriff struck the edge of the chasm. Lex held on tight, struggling to maintain her grip as Iversson dangled over the ocean, the gale tearing at her.

She glanced up. Through the maelstrom of dust and spray, she could make out the shape of Weyland huddled on the other side "I can't let her live, she could go after the boys!" She thought "I have to stop her; I can jump that gap easily!"

As they locked gazes across the gulf Lex almost choked on the bitter taste of rage, mixing with the metallic tang of Rathbone's blood. She watched impotently as the CEO staggered to her feet, throwing a panicky glance towards the darkened corridor.

"Weyland!" She screamed "I'm coming for you!"

A noise made her look down and she found herself staring into Iversson's terrified face. The fear she saw there brought her back to herself, a chill colder even than the freezing sea air.

"She was right!" She thought "Iversson was right! Who the hell am I? How could I ever look Isaac in the eye again, knowing I let her die?"

Suddenly terrified for the other woman's life, she gritted her teeth and hauled with all her strength. Using her grip on the grille of the flooring panel to anchor herself, she dragged the Professor onto the spray-slick metal until both of them lay the floor, panting in the swirling rain.

"Lex!" Iversson gasped in disbelief pulling herself upright "You saved me!"

"No Professor," Lex bawled at her over the howling wind "You saved me!"

Iversson stared at her in surprise for a few seconds, then she threw her arms around her former prisoner, wet strands of Lex's long, dark hair sticking to her cheek.

"Come on!" Lex shouted, dragging them both away from the edge, out of the wind "We have to get the boys!"

As Iversson released her, Lex finally allowed herself to look across at the spot where Diana Weyland had been standing moments before. There was no sign of her now. Pushing aside her anger she gestured at the huge hole in the floor "Do you know a way round?"

"Yes, the floor above is just like this one,"

Lex bent and picked up Weyland's pulse rifle from where it had skidded across the corridor, inspecting it "A pulse rifle, I haven't seen one of these in a while! Pump action, grenade launcher and… oh, look," She raised her eyebrows "It's got a burner function, too!"

"How do you know all this?!"

"You don't live with a hunter for six years without becoming pretty well-versed in weaponry. Here, you should take Rathbone's gun," Lex retrieved the pistol from a puddle of blood and handed it to the scientist.

"Alexa, I wouldn't even know where to start,"Iversson held it with the tentative grip of one not comfortable with firearms "I don't know if I could even use it – "

"It's not so hard Professor, just point and click," Lex gave her a grim smile "If it makes you feel better, it won't have much effect on the hard meat anyway."

"This is no time for jokes!"

"Who says I'm joking? Take it, just in case."

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Iversson gripped her hand "The exotic set off explosives and now the hull has been breached, we don't have much time before this complex sinks!"

"I believe you! Now, which way?"

Iversson thought quickly, mapping out Island North in her brain "We can get up to the next level," She pointed to the stairs, which luckily were on their side of the chasm "Then move along the corridor and find a way down. But I have something that – " She was about to tell Lex about Danzig's hormone tag when the structure gave another agonised groan, loud enough to be heard over the wailing of the storm.

"Save it," Lex said urgently "Like you said; this place is falling apart!"

As they started to move towards the stairwell there was a faint flash of light, dimly visible in the gloom at the top. At the same instant both of them heard a noise, muffled but very familiar to Lex; the sound of plasma fire.

She and Iversson stared at each other for a split second; then Lex began to sprint up the stairs with Iversson following as fast as she could.

* * *

As the first hard meat leapt towards him, inner mouth already extended, Scar side stepped and struck, cutting off the protruding jaws. His second sword came whirling round to skewer the hard meat right through its mutilated mouth. As it died, he felt himself sliding into the killing rhythm, his whole being concentrated on seeing the enemy's vulnerable points; on seeing their avenues of attack; his hunter's instincts assessing each action and reaction more swiftly and accurately than a computer.

This wasn't the same as fighting with the makeshift weapons he'd had earlier. Now he had his swords; sharp as grief and cruel as pity. Now he was an agent of death; decapitating one bug, cutting another in half _"This is what I was born to do!"_

In his peripheral vision he saw one of the hard meat edging round, trying to get to Isaac. He was about to throw himself in front of the boy when a burst of plasma lit up the corridor and the bug was thrown onto its back, half its shoulder disintegrated, struggling to rise.

Without pausing in his attack, Scar saw Isaac take aim again.

"Yessss boy!" He snarled "Destroy them! Send them to the bitch goddess! It is in your blood!"

But despite it all, he and Isaac were being driven back; little by little the hard meat were penning them in so they had less and less room to manoeuvre. Every time he made headway against the tide another wave would come and they would lose ground. Finally he was at bay, standing in front of Isaac, turned side on to the bugs to protect Selim. The blades of his swords were dissolving under the sheer weight of acid blood so he threw them down and unsheathed his dah'kte for a last desperate effort.

"Get ready Isaac, do not... fear them!" He growled, feeling like a traitor because all the time he was thinking _"I may not be able to save them, but at least I can give them a quick death…"_

"Over here you ugly motherfuckers!"

Several of the bugs hissed in surprise, blunt heads whipping round but Scar grinned under the mask without even turning his head. He didn't need to see her to know who had spoken. It was a voice he knew like no other.

"Get the _fuck_ away from my **babies**!" She screamed.

A burst of yellow flame lit up the corridor and there was a chorus of dismay like a choir of lost souls. The bugs to their right squealed in shock and pain as they were caught in the blast. Many scrambled to get away from the fire and even those who didn't were temporarily distracted.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Scar sprang into a renewed offensive; launching himself into the hard meat as he swung his blades, dismembering them or and knocking them across the corridor with his fists…

* * *

Lex fired the flamethrower into the knot of hard meat again, making sure she aimed avoided the direction the plasma bolt had come from. The bugs were thrown into disarray, instead of training all their attention on their prey, they found themselves under attack from an unexpected direction. She knew the flamethrower wouldn't be enough on its own to drive them away but it had weakened their formation and that left an opening.

Letting the burner hang by its strap round her neck she drew her ki'cti-pa. Twisting it to bring the blades shooting out, she impaled the lead drone through the throat.

As she pulled her spear blade out of the first drone's throat she swung to face a second attacker, driving the spear into its gut. The bug snarled in rage and lashed its lethal tail at her. Keeping a tight grip on the combi spear she dodged to one side and the stiletto tail-spine hit the floor a few inches from her feet. She used the spear to keep it at bay as it struck at her again, pushing with all her strength to drive the spear still further into its belly. It squealed and thrashed wildly as the point burst through its back, then lurched to the floor.

She let go of the spear and unsheathed her wristknives just in time to slice off the hands of the next bug that lunged at her, the one that came after got skewered through the forehead, jaw dropping open as it died.

She braced one booted foot against the forehead of the hard meat on the floor and jerked the combi spear loose, stabbing the bug whose hands she had severed through the spine. It squealed, shuddered and was still.

Then two strange things happened; firstly the strip lights in the corridor, which had been dark and dead since the moment she'd set foot on Island North, hummed into renewed life. They were still guttering like a candle in the breeze, not reliable enough to really be called light, but she realised that somehow they had power where before they'd had none.

Secondly, there was a lull in the bugs attack. They didn't retreat – the hard meat rarely did that – but suddenly she found herself standing in the strobing illumination surrounded by the dead with no more coming to take their place.

"The back-up generator must have kicked in, sporadically at least!" Iversson said behind her and she turned to find the Professor had caught up.

Then, in the flickering light, she caught sight of a small shape huddled near the wall.

"Isaac!" She darted over, scooping him up "Thank God we found you!" To her surprise he threw his wiry arms around her without any hesitation, squeezing her for dear life.

"Isaac! Darling!" The Professor hobbled towards them, holding out her arms and Lex let him go to her, a little catch in her throat as Iversson hugged the boy fiercely.

"Isaac where's Selim?" She said urgently "You have to tell us where he is; did Farrell take him?"

Isaac turned and extended his arm, pointing silently past her with one clawed finger. Sensing movement at her back Lex spun round in alarm to find herself staring straight into a pair of yellow lynx-eyes that glowed in the darkness.

"Scar!" She whispered.

Without a word he seized her, pulling her up against him in a bone-crushing grip and burying his face in her hair. The light in the corridor seemed to beat in time with her hammering pulse as he all but squeezed the breath out of her body. Her fingernails dug into his skin and she felt him inhale deeply against her neck, as if he were trying to breathe her in; to drink up the scent of her.

Finally she managed to get air into her lungs again "Where's Selim?" She gasped.

Scar pulled back and she realised what Isaac had meant and why he was holding his body at an angle to her.

Strapped across his chest was their son.

"Selim!" She cried, panic gripping her as she saw the way his head was lolling forward "What's wrong with him?" She demanded.

"Tranquiliser dart." He said shortly "He will have… a headache when he revives."

The relief that washed through her was so great she almost laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

"Some Father you are," She said in his ear "I turn my back for half an hour and you let him get darted!"

" _It is good to have your wicked tongue back, Demon,"_ He purred and she could hear the grin in his voice _"But you should have told me."_

"Told you what?" She looked up at him in surprise.

Her next words died in her mouth as a piercing scream of rage echoed up to them, enough to freeze her blood. Lex didn't need to be told what had made that sound. It had echoed through her nightmares often enough…

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry it's been such a long hiatus, I had some non-writing stuff to do. I hope it's worth the wait!**


	36. Chapter 36

**Author's note: Thanks for all the love people. It's so great to have so many views and kind reviews.**

* * *

"A Queen? _Here?_ " Lex demanded, looking up at Scar. His expression wiped away all doubt; there _was_ a Queen and she was close. That cry hadn't come from far away.

"Professor," She turned "We've got to get the shuttle quickly, which way is it?"

Iversson's face was ghastly pale but she swallowed down her fear "Up the stairs, we have to get to the top deck!"

"I'll take Isaac," Lex told her, then turned to Scar "You'll have to carry Iversson – don't argue!" She hissed, sensing his objection before he made it "She's injured, she can't run!"

He snorted but snatched up the Professor and threw her over his shoulder. As Lex hoisted Isaac in her arms the cry came again, seeming to emanate from all directions at once.

As one, Lex and Scar began to run. They were already pounding up the steps, when suddenly the staircase shuddered.

All four of them looked down to see the Queen's blind muzzle emerge from the darkness two floors below. Her head turned in their direction and she gave a chilling hiss as she sensed her quarry at last.

Then she began to climb, dragging her huge body awkwardly up inside the stairwell. The staircase started to shake alarmingly; metal supports groaning and buckling under her weight as she pulled herself up.

Lex leapt up the stairs, taking them two at a time, feeling like her lungs were about to burst. They reached the top floor to find another metal door and Lex pressed her face to the tiny window. Through the glass she could see the stormy top deck and the smoking wreck of the Boeing Vertol, but the Chameleon was nowhere in sight. She pushed with all her strength but it didn't budge. Then she realised; now the power was back on, all the electronic security mechanisms were back online – they were trapped!

"Iversson, it's locked!" She yelled "You have to open it!"

All at once Scar was beside her. He dropped Iversson lightly onto her feet and darted back to the railing, watching as the Queen climbed, hauling her giant, unwieldy frame up towards them.

Lex waited tensely as Iversson pressed her palm to the sensor, held her eye up to the biometric scan, having to do it twice because the first time the power failed at the crucial moment. As the door swung open she turned to see Scar pull one of his incendiary grenades, flipping the activation switch with one talon.

Iversson followed her gaze "No!" She screamed at him "The structure's too unstable!"

 **"Shut up and run!"** He bellowed and Lex, still clutching Isaac, bolted through the door, dragging Iversson with her.

* * *

Scar heard Iversson's warning but he ignored it; the Queen was only a couple of floors below them, in a matter of moments she would be on them and explosives were the only thing he could think of to even slow her down.

He threw the grenade, aiming at the flight of stairs just below, not waiting to see if he had hit his target. If he had, the bomb would destroy the floor he was standing on. If not, the Queen would reach the top. He ran, bursting through the door Lex had just exited onto the rainswept deck.

He spotted them through the grey curtain of drizzle and sprinted towards her, catching up just before the explosion knocked them down. He threw himself to one side as he fell, trying shield Selim from the blast without crushing him. His shoulder hit the ground hard but he pulled himself upright almost immediately to see orange flames and smoke billowing from the ravaged stairwell. The metal door lay nearby where it had been blown out, must have missed them by inches. He quickly checked Selim but his son seemed to be unhurt.

To his left, Lex pushed herself upright from where she had thrown herself across Isaac. On his right, he heard Iversson moan.

Scar pulled himself to his feet, scooping up the Professor as he did so.

"What happened?" She asked blearily "Did you kill it?"

He didn't answer her right away, scanning around for the Chameleon.

"Where is our ship… scientisssst?"

"You mean you didn't kill it?!" Her eyes went wide with alarm.

"Tell me where is my… ship or we will all find out… together!" He growled.

She shook her head "The tech team couldn't work out how to decloak it!"

"It's right there, Scar!" Lex pointed at where the big metal dome stood half open. Through the driving rain, they could dimly make out the shape of the Chameleon, like an answer to a prayer.

"But that's not right," Iversson said "Weyland told me it was invisible – "

At that moment, the smoking debris at the top of the stairwell bulged; then burst apart as the Queen dragged herself upwards. She erupted out of the ground, shouldering pieces of the wreckage aside like a storybook monster. Then suddenly she stopped, trapped in the twisted metal framework of the stairs which had become tangled around her body. As she snarled with fury, struggling to get free, Lex snatched up Isaac and fled towards the dome, Scar running too, carrying Iversson and Selim.

Lex pressed the controls on her wristcom as she ran and the hatch in the Chameleon's belly slid open. They piled up the gangway and through the airlock, gasping and skidding on the metal floor, racing straight for the cockpit.

Scar reached the console first. Dropping Iversson onto her feet, he unsheathed his blades and cut the bonds that held Selim to his chest. After placing his son in the co-pilot seat, he began rapidly pressing buttons to start up the engines. As Lex came in behind him, she heard the familiar whirr as the turbines kicked into life.

Then, to her utter horror, the drone of the turbines faltered, stuttered… and died.

"Scar," She hissed "What the fuck is going on?"

"I am not sure," He rumbled unhappily "But if the stealth generator has been running all this time without the engines being activated… it may have drained the power cells so much the turbines will not start."

"Can you fix it?"

"I have one spare power cell in reserve from my last raid, stored in the hold. We could replace one of the cells. Now the cloak has been deactivated we could probably start the turbines, but it will take a little time. Maybe half a unit."

Hurriedly, Lex set Isaac down next to Iversson and brought up the display screen, so they could see the enraged Queen, snapping and thrashing as she fought to get free.

"We may not have that long!" Lex swallowed hard "Could she get into this shuttle?"

Scar's gaze was also fixed on the Xenomorph "This ship was built for deep space travel and attack by enemy ships but…" He didn't need to say it, Lex knew exactly what he was thinking – neither of them wanted to find out if the Chameleon could withstand an attack by a vengeful hard meat Queen. Not when it was their only hope of escaping this disintegrating fortress.

"We have no time for this!" He tore himself away from the view-screen "I must replace the cell!"

As he disappeared down into the hold, while Lex gazed around desperately, then an idea struck her and she turned to Iversson "Are we able to close the dome over the shuttle?"

The Professor started in surprise "If the power's still back on yes, I don't see why not."

"How much punishment can it take?"

"It's pretty tough," Iversson grimaced "It was originally meant to shield our planes from airborne attacks."

Lex didn't waste time asking who would be shooting at a research unit – she thought she could guess why they were worried about coming under attack. Instead she asked quickly "How do we close it?"

"Usually the control room would close it remotely but … there's a way to do it manually," Iversson pointed it out on the view screen and as she touched the screen, the picture zoomed in on the control panel "There, the largest switch on the panel but you'll have to hold it all the way down until the dome is sealed. This green button locks it but – "

"Does it require biometrics?"

"No, just my pass-key card, but Lex," Iversson looked up at her worriedly "If you close it, we'll be trapped!"

Both women and Isaac turned as the Queen let out a furious shriek.

"Do you have a better idea?" Iversson shook her head and wordlessly handed her the card.

Lex took it, pushed her mask onto her face. The Professor could see her taking a deep breath. Then she darted out into the rain.

* * *

The downpour was so heavy Lex could hardly make out the Queen as she sprinted for the control panel, but she could hear her screams. She switched her mask to thermal vision setting as she ran. Suddenly she could see the enraged matriarch, a flaming beacon of heat and light and wrath.

Reaching the control panel, she slammed the key-card into its slot and hauled on the lever. It was stiff and it took all her strength and both hands to push it downwards. The dome began sliding over them with a grinding noise, loud enough to be heard even over the rain and the unearthly shrieking. When she'd forced it all the way down she tried to let go but the moment she released the pressure the lever began to slide back up and the dome cover stopped moving.

At the noise, the Queen caught sight of her intended prey and redoubled her efforts to free herself. She began tearing at the metal and herself with her enormous clawed hands in her frenzy to get at the intruders who had destroyed her nest. As Lex stood willing the dome to close faster; she could see wisps of steam rising up through the rain where the Queen's blood had begun to eat away at the metal that imprisoned her...

* * *

Iversson sat in the pilot seat clutching Isaac tight, both of them mesmerised by what they could see on the view screen. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see the exotic re-enter the cockpit, even filthier with oil and grease than when he'd left it.

He opened his mouth to speak and then stopped, his intimidating, yellow gaze sweeping the room before finally coming to rest on her.

"Where is Lex?" He said sharply.

Before Iversson could answer him, her own eyes flicked involuntarily to the view screen and he followed her line of sight to where Lex's slender figure was dimly visible. Only a short distance away from her and fighting to get free… the maddened Queen.

"No…" His jaws fell open in disbelief "No! No! **NO!** " He banged his fists on the console in fury "What is she **doing**?!"

Iversson started at the rage in his voice, felt Isaac jump too.

"She's trying to buy you some time," She said, trying calm him, frightened by this sudden explosion of temper "She went to shut the dome cover to keep that creature out! She can't let go of the switch or it won't close – "

He wasn't listening, already grabbing weapons and explosives, snatching up his mask and pushing it onto his face; spitting filthy sounding curses in his own language. She couldn't understand what he was saying but she didn't really need to, she could tell how angry and agitated he was.

On the view screen, the dome was now three quarters shut but it moved so slowly, the sporadic power-outs making it even more halting than normal….

She watched as the exotic strapped a huge piece of equipment across his back. It could have been a weapon or maybe some sort of mechanised tool. Whatever it was, it would certainly have been too heavy for a human being to lift.

He turned towards her "When the dome is shut, is there any other way out?" He snarled.

"Way out? N-no," She stuttered "The shuttle will be sealed inside - "

He cut her off "I mean for me to get out!"

"Well, there are vents higher up – "

Before she could say any more he was at the airlock and through it.

Then there was an awful noise and Iversson's gaze was dragged back to the view screen as if magnetized.

"Oh God…" She whispered.

The Queen was loose...


	37. Chapter 37

Lex's head jerked round the same moment Iversson's did, as she too heard the terrible rending crash. To her horror, she saw the Queen finally rip herself free of the tangle of metal, pieces of wreckage clanging down onto the deck around her.

And still … and still the lid of the dome was not closed.

Tingling with fear, she hung on the lever with all her weight, trying to force it down further, hoping stupidly that would somehow speed things up. "I can't let go, if she gets to the shuttle she could tear it apart and kill the boys - kill us all!"

As the Queen lumbered towards her, screaming like the living embodiment of vengeance, she squeezed her eyelids shut, unable to watch.

Suddenly she felt someone grip her wrists and tear her hands away from the switch and opened her eyes to see Scar towering above her. His faceplate was slick with rain as he held the lever down with one hand.

"You crazy bitch!" He bellowed, shoving her towards the Chameleon "Get back onboard! GO!"

At that moment, the hangar shut with a hollow boom, just seconds before the maddened Queen reached it and Lex lunged forward to slap her palm down on the lock button. They stood and listened to the sound of the Queen battering at the cover; a series of muffled impacts as she threw herself frenziedly against it, desperate to get in, but the thick metal canopy seemed to be withstanding the onslaught – for now.

Before she knew what was happening Scar grabbed her by the upper arm and began dragging her back to the ship.

"What the fuck Scar?!" She yelled at him, struggling as he towed her implacably along "What are you doing?"

"Protecting you," He growled "Get yourself back on the shuttle! I will go outside and distract her, draw her away – "

He turned as she finally managed to yank her arm out of his grasp and they faced each other, panting.

"Why are you doing this?" She gasped "We have to protect the boys, you know I can fight – let's fight her together!"

"No," He said flatly "Not like this."

"What do you mean?" She tore off her mask in frustration, staring up into the blank eyes of his visor "What's wrong Scar? Don't you trust me anymore?" Her last words were almost a plea. Whatever disagreements they'd had in the past – over Selim, over Fil – she couldn't believe that he would lose faith in her. Not after everything they had been through.

Stepping up close to her he wrenched off his own mask and now she could see his distress _"Lex…"_ He said in a very different voice " _I know we play games with each other, but now is not the time for games… not now that I know!"_

"Know what?" She almost screamed at him "What are you talking about?"

" _About the foetus you carry – the moment I had you close I knew!"_ He roared back _"I smell it in your sweat how your hormones have changed! **Do not pretend to be ignorant of it!"**_

Her mouth fell open and she stared at him, doing the maths quickly in her head; her brain racing to work out if what he was saying could be true "That time after the argument… just before Selim got ill," She thought "The trip back to Earth… we were only together for about a week before we got captured by Weyland, so maybe he wasn't able to tell by then and I've been so distracted…. I guess it's possible… but why now after so long?"

"You still need my help," She said, trying desperately to convince him "Just like that first time in Antarctica, just like in the desert – you know we can defeat her together!"

" _No. One of us must remain to fly the shuttle away from here. Besides…"_ He put one hand out, brushing his talons across her bloodied lips, uncharacteristically gentle _"If you and my unborn are out there, I could not fight. I cannot focus. Just go back to the ship. I will speak to you through the mask intercom when it is safe to open the cover."_

"No!" She shook her head stubbornly "This is a Queen, Scar! You can't do this on your own!"

"You must protect our children."

"If she breaks through they will die anyway!"

"And if you step outside you may as well cut my throat yourself!"

She stared up at him unhappily. Like always when they struggled for supremacy she wanted to kill him and she wanted to kiss him, if kissing had been possible.

"Lex… do not make me beg…"

"S'Kia…" Tears sprang into her eyes, began to stream down her face "Do not make me watch you die…"

"You do not cry!" He snarled, gripping her shoulders hard "The mother of my children does not shed tears – "

"You fucking bastard!" Lashing out from the depths of her fear and her pain she hit him in the jaw, knocking his head to one side.

Slowly he raised his hand to where the blow had landed, grinning down at her, eyes glittering "There is the demon who made me the Abomination I am!"

He grabbed her before she could protest; holding her against him.

"Female," He purred in her ear "I am not going to die, because I do two things better than any other. Let me go and do the first of them to the hard meat so that I may return and do the second to you!"

And with that he was gone; swarming up the sheer metal wall with the ease of a lizard.

She stood staring after him, feeling as though her insides had been thrown into chaos. Both hands were pressed against her abdomen while she watched him climb, as if she could somehow feel what was inside.

Then she realised the Queen had fallen ominously quiet. She imagined that eyeless face searching, trying to figure out another way in. Without wasting any more time, she turned and raced back to the Chameleon.

"Can I really be pregnant again?" She thought as she ran "Can Scar really sense it like he says? What if he's wrong… Oh God, _what if he's right?"_

* * *

Scar used his wristblades to scale up the inside of the dome. It should have taken a few moments to readjust to climbing with the heavy grappling gun strapped across his back but somehow not even that weight could pull him down.

Weirdly, at this most desperate moment, he was on top of the world – of the universe! He felt as if every molecule in his body was fizzing "She carries my offspring once more!" He exalted "I made her pregnant again! I am surely favoured by the bitch goddess, as she has granted my desire – it was predestined, as I knew it must be!"

He knew serenity was the state of mind he should be seeking. R'Zuul had always called unregulated emotion dangerous, but once in the grip of strong emotion Scar never found it easy to repress what he felt. Riding his emotions, feeding off them, was what gave him an edge and right now he was wired. Not only that; he had a plan.

He reached the vent, grabbing the heavy metal cover and pulling it open, taking care it didn't pull free and go crashing to the floor.

He was not wearing his cloaking device – they never worked on the hard meat anyway – but he knew he had to be stealthy. He didn't want the Queen to see how he exited the dome in case she tried to use it as a way in. The tunnel didn't look large enough for her to fit through, but he couldn't risk it.

He purposefully chose the vent farthest away from where he could hear the pounding on the metal… though he noticed now the noise of her bombardment had ceased. That was not good.

Scar crawled down to the end of the shaft; there was no sign of any living thing.

He pulled himself out of the tunnel into the driving rain, holding on with one hand. Rain was lashing onto the deck and the sky was black as the eyes of the nameless deity… black as the eyes of that infernal female who carried his child inside her fragile body. A grin spread across his face under the mask before he could stop it.

The Queen was not visible but his gaze quickly swept his surroundings and he purred softly as he spotted the other thing he was looking for.

Scar began to move around the dome, trying to move away from the vent quickly and at the same time locate on his enemy "A hard meat Queen cannot be underestimated," He thought, scanning beneath him "Even one born in captivity, the Pyramid taught me that!"

* * *

Iversson's head swivelled round as the hatch opened and a moment later Lex burst into the cockpit. Quickly she went to check on Selim; then she ran to the consoleand stood with her back towards them, frantically pressing the controls. Iversson bit her lip. In the brief glimpse she had of her face, Lex looked as if she'd been crying.

"Isaac," She said quietly "Go and sit with Selim, would you? Make sure he's ok for me?" Silently, the boy crept into the huge co-pilot's chair next to his friend.

As Iversson approached the console Lex was still focussed on the controls, different displays flashed across the screen too quickly for the Professor to follow what they showed.

"Alexa," She said "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find some way to see what the hell's happening outside! Goddamn metal dome must be messing with our thermal imaging – "

On the screen a technicolour blur became a twisted mass of wispy green lines "EM impulse too," She spat "Isn't there one setting on this piece of shit that'll let me see what's going on?"

"Where's the exotic?"

"Outside." Lex spoke through gritted teeth "Trying to draw her off. On his own. _"_

She began pressing buttons and a flashing red icon in the corner of the screen.

"S'Kia!" She said sharply, leaning forward to speak into what Iversson assumed must be a microphone. The only answering noise was the ghostly whisper of static.

Iversson managed not to jump as Lex banged her palms on the console in frustration "You sound angry – "

" _Of course_ I'm angry! The stupid son-of-a-bitch thinks he can take her on alone!"

"And you don't agree?"

"Of course not, he's going to get ripped apart! But he thinks he's invincible – just because he believes…"

Iversson waited tensely for her to continue, but she just stood there staring at the view screen. She almost jumped out of her skin as Lex's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist "You've got to help me Iversson!" She said, wild-eyed "I'll bet you had all sorts of tests done on me when I got here, right? Just like in Nevada?"

Iversson blinked "Tests?"

"Blood tests, you must have done those at least?"

"Yes, my staff would have taken blood samples," The Professor said "What is it Alexa; what did the exotic say to you?"

Lex glanced over her shoulder at the two children "He says I'm pregnant," She said quietly, trying not to let Isaac hear her "But your tests would have picked that up, wouldn't they?"

The scientist's mouth dropped open "A second pregnancy? But that's … well if it's true it's… it's incredible – "

"You mean you don't know if it's true?"

"Briggs would have taken bloods, but he never mentioned anything about a pregnancy…. what do you think?"

"I… it's possible, I just don't know!"

Iversson frowned "But how could the exotic possibly know?"

"He says there's a change in my hormones; he's got some senses more heightened than we have, sense of smell especially…" Lex waved a hand in frustration at Iversson's inquiring expression "So… it's not true? He's wrong?"

The Professor stared at her in dismay as she racked her brain, trying to remember if her team had said anything that would prove it either way "I'm sorry Alexa, I can't say for certain," She admitted finally "We were all so focussed on Selim and the exotic, it may be those samples were never even analysed."

As she spoke, Lex groaned and pressed her fingers against her temples.

"Oh God," She said raggedly "I am pregnant, aren't I? I can't believe this is happening again!" She pushed the controls once more and the red icon in the corner of the screen began to glow and pulse.

"S'Kia, answer me!" She said "What's going on out there?"

A crackling hiss came back to her from the shuttle's speakers "He's not answering." She said, visibly choking down her fear.

"Alexa be calm," Iversson soothed "Maybe he just doesn't want to be overheard," She was trying not to show how terrified she was herself. Since everything had spiralled out of control, Alexa and the exotic had seemed to offer the only chance of survival. Both of them were violent and unpredictable but in a world gone to hell, at least they had a plan. She now realised how much she was relying on Alexa to be strong.

A second realisation had also dawned on the Professor; Alexa had been lying about being the exotic's prisoner. In truth, they operated together, behaving as a family unit. Although it surprised her that two beings from totally different species could form such a connection she could see it with her own eyes. The exotic was clearly willing to die for her and their children and, knowing he was risking his life, Alexa was racked with fear. Iversson could see her usual self-control begin to fracture.

"If he dies, how will she take it?" The Professor wondered nervously "This is my fault; it's all my fault! I helped Weyland find them and capture them. If I hadn't given her my knowledge and my expertise they wouldn't be in this danger…"

Iversson closed her eyes and prayed silently "Please let the exotic be as invincible as he believes he is… please please _please_ don't let that little boy lose his father and Isaac lose his life because of me! Please don't let my actions have killed us all!"


	38. Chapter 38

The Queen stalked up and down in front of hangar, investigating the portion of the cover that had slid closed. Scar could hear her frustrated snarls as she prowled, running her long bony hands over it. She had not seen him yet.

He settled the grappling gun into a more stable position on his back. He had been planning to just get her attention and run, to lead her away, but as he watched her a new plan was forming in his brain. He was going to attack; she didn't seem to be aware of him right now and an advantage like that was too good to miss!

Scar breathed deeply as he drew his combi spear, gearing up, pulling it all together. Then he leapt, springing down towards his unsuspecting prey, hurling the ki'cti-pa towards her spine with all his strength. He was hoping for a killing blow, but somehow fortune was not on his side. At the last moment, the very last instant, she moved as if alerted by some sixth sense and he only succeeded in plunging the spear down between her ribs. The Queen gave a squeal of rage, twisting round in agony towards him.

Scar hit the floor, rolled and came up the next instant, to see her lashing her arms, flailing awkwardly at the combi spear now protruding from her body. He growled

" _Treacherous slut of a Goddess! Warning your daughter of darkness… "_

In the grip of the primeval instinct that needed to lure her away from his offspring at any costs he roared, bellowing a challenge into the teeth of the gale.

She forgot about the spear and swung towards him, focussing the full force of her terrible will on him. Her razor-toothed mouth yawned wide, letting out a hiss like a jet of scalding steam as she moved into attack position; arms splayed, tail poised to strike.

When he was certain he had her full, malevolent attention, he turned and _ran_.

Scar heard her scream of fury as she charged, thundering after him. He sprinted for his life, feet slithering on the wet floor as he raced towards the huge crane that towered in one corner of the top deck; long chains hung from it, swinging and jangling in the wind.

He reached the structure and leapt, gripped and then began to scramble upwards without even daring to look behind him. Adrenalin flooded through his veins like nitro-glycerine, muscles burning as he climbed, fast as he could. Being fixed in one place for most of her life, the Queen's body wasn't built for agility and the spear through her thorax was slowing her down, but bloodlust gave her speed and strength beyond that which she normally possessed.

He felt the vibration as she reached the tower and began to haul herself up after him. The structure began to shake as she climbed. Scar redoubled his efforts, reaching the point where the arm of the crane jutted out just seconds later. He yanked himself up onto the jib and ran along it, sure-footed as a cat on the narrow walkway while the sea boiled white below.

Grabbing hold of one of the dangling chains he shot a quick glance at the Queen to make sure she was still climbing; then he leapt, stepping off into space, sliding down the dangling chain to the ground. Only the wetness of the metal stopped him from taking the skin off his palms.

The Queen was still only halfway up as he hit the floor, bounced to his feet and unslung the grappling gun from his back. She turned and began to slither back down towards him but not fast enough. Gleefully he raised the weapon to his shoulder, taking aim at the hard meat where she clung to the tower. As he watched her through the sights of his mask, she turned and hissed at him, jaws gaping hungrily.

" _Bite on this!"_ He smiled nastily to himself and fired.

The kickback from the giant gun made him jerk backwards; if he hadn't been prepared the impact would have thrown him to the floor. An explosive charge strong enough to propel the grapple through the void of space launched it out of the barrel and towards the Queen at incredible speed. It hit her arm, pinning her to the tower, the four wickedly sharp hooks designed to penetrate the hull of an enemy spaceship driving themselves easily into the steel girders. She stretched out towards him with her free hand but the distance between them was too great for her to reach him. Then he realised in alarm that the chain on the grapnel was still attached to the gun. She realised a fraction of a second after he did and went to seize the chain but as she did so he fired again, launching the second grapnel, pinning her leg to the tower at the ankle joint. Then the electromagnet in the grapnels activated, clamping down on her.

The Queen squealed in surprise. The grapples didn't pierce her skin but he had no doubt that they clamped her to the tower hard enough to cause pain.

As she shrieked Scar loaded a second grapnel coil into the gun. This time he aimed at her free arm and somehow managed to hit it despite the driving rain. Then quickly he took aim and fired again. This time he hit the thigh of her other leg, but as he did so the Xenomorph snaked her long spiny tail under the un-magnetised grapnel pinning her arm down. Using her tail she managed to tear her arm free before the electromagnets in the second set of grapnels could activate but one of the grapples still fastened down on her thigh. The first unattached grapnel plummeted down onto the metal deck where it stuck fast, held in place by the powerful magnet, the chain pulled taught.

The Queen howled in a voice like a thousand souls in torment, thrashing wildly, but the grapnels held her fast.

Scar grinned.

He had her pinioned, almost crucified on the tower. She might have managed to pull herself free of one grapnel but the electromagnets in the remaining three were powerful enough to hold a yautja shuttle securely to another ship – they were strong enough to hold her.

Still grinning he spoke to Lex through the mask intercom _"Got her."_

* * *

"Scar!" Selim's mother gasped "Are you alright?"

" _Of course,"_ Came the reply through the ship's speakers _"She is trapped!"_

Scrunched into the co-pilot's chair next to Selim, Isaac's strained his ears, trying to find out what on Earth was going on. He'd overheard some of what his Mom and Lex had been saying to each other, even though they obviously didn't want him to hear. A lot of it he didn't understand, but one thing had been clear to him; Selim's father was outside fighting that big, horrible creature – a monster even more terrifying then he was – and Selim's mother was frightened for him.

" _Lex!"_ He heard Selim's father growl _"Open the dome so we can take off, I will keep her covered."_

He watched Selim's mother snatch up her plasma gun and dash out of the hatchway while Iversson sat in the pilot seat, tensely watching the view screen. After a moment he heard a noise like a big animal in pain as the hangar began to slide back up, letting in the night and the rain and wind. Isaac couldn't look away from that growing slit of blackness, he was so scared that any moment the terrible creature was going to come bursting through the gap.

Then he felt Selim stir slightly next to him. Isaac looked down in surprise as his friend's eyelids fluttered open. He blinked groggily a few times as he swam upwards from his drugged stupor. Then his eyes widened as he recognised his surroundings.

"I am home!" He whispered.

"Selim?" Isaac was so excited to hear his friend speak that it was all he could do to keep from shouting out "Selim! You're awake!"

"Isaac?" Selim frowned in perplexity "How did we… get here? I remember shooting the hard meat and then Farrell…" He shook his head "What happened? Did she come to save us?" He glanced towards Iversson, who still sat staring anxiously out of the viewscreen, too fearful to notice Selim waking up.

Isaac was so agitated he couldn't get it all out fast enough "No, it was your Dad – "

Selim's frown deepened "My _Dad?_ "

"I mean S'Kia," Isaac shook his head "I mean… your Father – he killed Farrell, and I thought _he_ was the monster but then – "

"My Father?!" Selim was immediately alert "You mean you found him?"

"No!" Isaac hissed " _He_ found _us!_ He saved us from Farrell and then those things came after us again!"

"The hard meat?"

"Yes! But your parents killed them – "

"But where _are_ my parents?!" Selim asked, looking around desperately.

"Fighting that _…_ that… _thing_ ," Isaac blurted "The big monster! S'Kia went out to fight it and now your Mom's gone too!"

"What?!" Selim's face fell ""Where? Let me see!" He struggled upright, craning to look out of the viewscreen.

They could see Selim's mother, hair plastered down with rain now that the metal dome was almost halfway open. Beyond her a tall metal tower jutted up into the night sky and pinioned against it was a huge and terrible shape. Selim guessed from his parents' stories that this must be the hard meat Queen, but even the monsters of his imagination were only dim shadows of the awful reality.

And standing outlined against it he could see another figure facing down the horror, unflinching.

Selim only knew of one person who was that fearless.

"Mei-Savir…" He whispered.

* * *

Over the raging storm, Scar could hear the cover sliding back, but he did not take his eyes off the Queen. She snarled with terrible fury and stretched her free arm to reach for him again. The tower moaned in protest under her weight, chains jingling as she struggled. He watched her thoughtfully as he reloaded the grapple gun with the third and final grapnel coil in his arsenal _"Just as well to keep her covered."_ He thought. The hooks had not pierced her skin, or else her acid blood might have weakened them. He could see her striving against the grapnels, almost looking as if she wanted to pull her limbs from their sockets. Her mouth opened towards him, drooling wordless rage.

His grin widened. Letting the grapple gun hang from the strap around his neck - he spread his arms and dipped his head to her in an ironic bow " _I am_ 'sorry' _Queen of Death,"_ He said, spitting out the human word _"But one of us is due to meet a bigger bitch than you tonight and it shall not be me!"_

He felt a slight twinge of regret at not being able to fight her properly, dispatch her properly – her skull would have made an enviable trophy – but he knew this structure was compromised. There was no telling how long it would last. The important thing was to get Lex and their spawn away from here as soon as possible.

" _Lex…"_

He turned to catch sight of her through the curtain of murk, standing at the switch.

Just like her first pregnancy, when she had been carrying Selim, her found her fascinating – even more so than usual. He was about to take a step towards her when there was a squeal of metal behind him and suddenly every nerve in his body jangled a warning.

Scar whirled around just in time to see the tower start to topple. Pure instinct took over and he ran, sprinting with everything he had to try and get out of the path of the falling crane, seeing its shadow looming on the ground before him.

With a final burst of speed he somehow he managed to get out from underneath that shadow and heard the deafening rumble behind him as the tower struck, smashing into the deck with devastating force. That same instant, the ground under his feet caved as a whole section of the metal deck was destroyed by the falling tower.

The floor beneath him became a slope, slippery with rain and seawater, spilling him down towards the ocean and the Queen. His reflexes kicked in and he pointed the grapple gun skywards and fired; his fingers moving before his conscious mind had time to register what he was doing. The grapnel shot out of the gun; the chain snaking behind in an arc as it flew up and onto the undamaged portion of the deck, dragged backwards by his falling weight until the hooks snagged on a metal grill. They stuck fast as the electromagnet activated and Scar's fall stopped with a jolt, fists tight around the chain.

He was about to start climbing when iron claws closed around his ankle…

* * *

Isaac watched as Selim's mouth fell open, his friend's leopard-like markings standing out starkly as he blanched ghost-pale. Following Selim's gaze, he turned just in time to see the monster and the tower hit the deck, heard the crash and felt the impact even from here. Then they saw Selim's father fall.

" _Daddy!"_ Selim shot to his feet, causing Isaac to jump and Iversson to spin in surprise.

"Selim?!" She said incredulously "You're awake?"

But the boy was deaf to what she was saying, deaf and blind to anything except for what was going on outside the spaceship.

Ignoring Iversson, he looked around the cockpit wildly before his eyes lit on something lying on the floor. Selim dived under the console, grabbed what he was looking for and was up and running for the airlock before the Professor could do anything. Too late, she realised what he was going to do and started forward, but she wasn't quick enough to reach him. He evaded her easily, dodging around her and smacking the button that opened the lock.

"Selim, stop!" She yelled, but it was no use, he was already through the outer lock. To her astonishment, she felt Isaac barrel past her too, vanishing through the hatch.

"Isaac no! It's too dangerous!"

Cursing, Iversson hurried after them as fast as her injured ankle would let her. She scrambled out of the hatch and into the freezing night, calling desperately for the two boys. She hobbled down the ramp, skidded in the wet and fell, crying out as her injured ankle folded up under her.

As she struggled to get to her feet something struck her in the shoulder, knocking her to the floor and a low voice behind her turned her spine to ice.

"Have all your new allies deserted you Jeanette?"

The livid white face of Diana Weyland swam into focus in front of Iversson's eyes just for an instant, before something smashed down heavily on her skull.

* * *

 **Author's note: No this isn't the end, just in case you were wondering. I will be continuing the story for better or worse, just thought you might like some extra violence over the festive period.**

 **Big love and Happy New Year to all my readers!**


	39. Chapter 39

Lex squinted through the rain and the strands of soaking hair plastered across her vision. Despite the gloom of the storm she could just make out the shape of Scar standing in front of the tower. She saw him turn towards the Queen and bow to her; a gesture of pure, mocking arrogance.

She knew him well enough to guess what was going on in his his mind "Making me pregnant after all this time; he thinks it's a sign - thinks he's untouchable! Why doesn't he just get himself back here?"

She yelled his name, calling him back, the wind stole the words out of her mouth and hurled them away into the night. She tried again.

This time he turned… even over the distance, even wearing the mask; she knew he was looking at her face. She locked her eyes on him, willing him to come to her.

All at once a she noticed the Queen had stopped her mindless thrashing and become still. Now that deadly intent was focussed on the grapnel attached to the deck. Scar hadn't noticed – he still had his back to her as she gripped the chain and gazed along the length of it curiously, testing its attachment to the deck.

Then, weaving her long, thin fingers through the links she began to pull.

Lex felt a terrible sinking in the pit of her stomach as she realised what the xenomorph was about to do.

" _Scar! The Queen!"_ She screamed, but he couldn't hear over the noise of the storm.

The tower was already under immense tension bearing the Matriarch's weight. The struts resisted for a few moments but they were no match for the vengeful mother and her hunger to get closer to her mortal enemy.

At the sound of rending metal he spun round, saw the threat and sprang away. Her heart lurched in her chest, worried that – fast as he was – it wasn't going to be fast enough.

The collapsing crane hit the deck of the platform, just missing Scar by a few feet. She watched in a slow-motion agony of paralysis as the panels gave way and the floor became a slalom; tipping the tower, the Queen and Scar all down towards the waves.

She heard him fire the grapple gun, the noise from the explosive charge only slightly dampened by the distance. She saw him hanging there – no longer falling – and air rushed into her lungs as she gasped with relief.

Then, just as it seemed the Queen might be about to go over the edge and into the sea, she threw out her only free arm and managed to arrest her fall, razor talons finding impossible holds on the slick metal. She was still attached to the toppled tower by three of her limbs. Lex could see the weight pulling her down but somehow… somehow she was still hanging there.

Then, to her horror, the xenomorph's other arm came free. She didn't know if the impact had damaged the crane enough for the grapnel to spring loose or whether desperation had given her added strength. As if in a nightmare, she saw that huge clawed hand reach out. Up and up it stretched, clutching Scar's ankle like the grip of Death itself. Immediately his arms snapped taut, stretched out by her dreadful weight as she strove to pull him down to her waiting mouth.

Fear rippled through Lex like physical pain, shocking her into action. As the hangar finally whirred into the open position she banged her fist down on the lock button and began to run towards them.

Just then, she heard a scream from the direction of the Chameleon and turned just in time to see – and this time her blood froze in her veins – Selim and Isaac! _"Oh Jesus, what are they doing outside?!"_

She veered in their direction, sprinting to try and intercept them, but in that instant she knew they were going to get there first and all she could do was watch. Watch her two boys race ahead of her neck and neck, running towards Scar… and the Queen.

* * *

Selim twisted at the handle of the bug thumper as he ran, trying to increase the weapon's power, setting to full capacity the way he remembered his Father had showed him. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when he got to the Queen but somehow this didn't seem very important. Suddenly everything else receded into the background, seeming muffled. Even his mother shouting his name sounded fuzzy to him as he ran on.

Through the rain he became dimly aware of Isaac keeping pace with him. Though everything else had faded away he could hear the other boy's breathing, it was almost as if Isaac were a part of him… like they were acting as one person. Selim frowned; he couldn't let his only friend face this danger.

"What are you doing Isaac?" He snarled without slowing down, knowing the other boy could match him stride for stride "You should not be doing this!"

"I'm not leaving Selim, I want to help you!"

"I must fight her. I am yautja and you are not!"

"Whatever you are is what I am! And if you fight then so do I!"

Selim grimaced, giving the thumper's handle a final twist, but he couldn't disagree. This was exactly what he felt; he wondered why he had tried to resist it. They were the same, it was wrong for them to be apart, no matter the consequences...

"Together then?"

"Together!"

As the two boys reached the top of the slope Selim saw his Father still hanging doggedly onto the grapnel line, massive arms trembling with strain as the Queen strove to drag him down with her.

" _Father!"_ Selim cried out before he could stop himself and the masked face snapped up immediately in their direction.

" _Selim! Isaac!"_ He bellowed furiously _"Get back to the ship or I will skin you alive!"_

His voice faded to a growl as the Queen pulled on his ankle even harder, heaving herself upwards. She looked up at the two boys with a malicious hiss.

The red mist descended on Selim then. Without a word, he seized hold of the quivering chain in his small hands and began to climb down towards them as fast as he could, Isaac following after him.

" _Mei'Seika! Stop! Go back!"_ His father roared, almost as if he were in pain.

Suddenly his Mother appeared at the top of the incline "Selim!" She screamed "Isaac! Get back here! Get away from her!"

Selim felt their voices tear at him like blades. In the past he had found himself almost incapable of defying his parents – the twin deities of his universe – but now he couldn't seem to stop himself.

When his Mother saw he wasn't going to obey she began to scale down towards them both even her climber's skill couldn't bring her down fast enough. Not when he had a head start, not when his veins were filled with this terrible burning that made him leap forwards without even thinking about what would happen if he fell.

 _Mei'Sika – stay back!_ _ **Please!**_ _"_

Selim had never heard his Father sound like that before. It felt feel strange to hear him beg, but it was not enough to stop him.

He pulled to his feet still holding onto the chain, struggling upright, fighting against the storm. He felt Isaac wrap an arm around his waist, anchoring him, just as the Queen finally managed to pull herself within striking distance of all three of them. She reared above them, her mouth distended in an deathly grin.

" _I am yautja!"_ Selim howled into that awful smile _"I do not know fear!"_

As the Queen struck, lunging down towards him, he struck back. He plunged the bug stick right between her terrible jaws and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Scar's arms and wrists burned with agony as he held onto the chain, the pain creeping along his bones and up into his shoulders. He had stopped being able to feel his hands a few minutes ago when suddenly he heard his son's voice and looked up. To his dismay he could see the slight figures of Selim and Isaac outlined against the stormy sky, standing at the top of the slope.

Scar had been totally concentrated on trying to save himself, but in that moment he was almost paralysed by fear. Seeing Selim so close to the yautja's most lethal quarry was terrifying beyond anything he'd ever known.

" _Selim! Isaac! Get back to the ship or I will skin you both alive!"_ He roared, hoping that fear of punishment might drive them away. Selim ignored him and began climbing down the chain right before his eyes with Isaac close behind him. Scar was torn between fury at their disobedience, pride at their courage and sickening terror. He knew the matriarch would not shrink from taking the lives of these two children in return for her slaughtered spawn.

He hurled threats and pleas at them; hardly aware of what he was saying, only aware of the all-consuming need to get them away from the Queen _"What is he thinking?"_ He raged inwardly _"Even if he can get to me what does he think he… can …do…"_

At that moment, he saw the black object in Selim's hand and he realised with a horrifying thrill exactly what his son was planning.

" _No!"_ He thought _"If Selim strikes the Queen with the bug stick and she is holding onto me, the current will pass through my body into the chain and from there into him and Isaac too! If the thumper doesn't stun her she will kill him. If it is a strong enough charge to stun her it will be more than enough to knock them unconscious; they will fall into the sea!"_

All at once, he knew what he had to do.

In his head he could hear the words that the nightmare Lex Queen who was also the bitch goddess had whispered to him _"This is what you desire, you and all your kind; Death..."_ But it was not true, not true at all.

He raised his eyes towards his son, taking one last look at him and the strange replica, knowing they would very likely be the last thing he would ever see.

Then he felt the hot breath of the Queen at his back; saw Selim rise to his feet, heard him scream defiance in her face.

Scar let go.

* * *

Lex saw Scar lose his hold on the chain an instant before the Xenomorph's head was lit from within by a bright blue spark, like a grisly jack o'lantern. Then her eyes were forced shut as white light burned away the darkness and there was a huge concussion as the full force of the current slammed into the Queen.

When she opened them again, blinking desperately, between flashes of white light she could see the Queen go down, collapsing like the skeleton of some prehistoric giant as the electricity disrupted all brain activity. They were falling – Scar and the Queen – their limp, unconscious bodies dropping away from her until they disappeared off the end of the slope.

Then they were gone, lost to the waves, the long chain dangling down the only sign that they had ever been there.

She had only a split second to realise herself what that meant, when there was a pitiful cry from beneath her, the sound of a heart that is breaking.

 **" _NOOOO!"_**

She looked down to see Selim hanging from Isaac's arms as the clone tried to keep his grip on the chain and still retain his hold on Selim. Her son didn't even seem to be aware of the danger they were in, didn't seem to be able to do anything to help himself. He just hung there, reaching distractedly after his father.

" _DADDY! No, NO, NOOOO!"_

Immediately she shut her mind to everything else and resumed her descent as fast as she could, half abseiling and half sliding down towards them until she was able to grab a firm hold of them both.

Isaac was hanging on grimly but Selim was almost deranged " _Mommy please!_ _Please!"_ He screamed, his words barely intelligible in his distress _"PLEASE! I have to get him back!"_

She tried to hold him and say soothing words to him but he fought her – actually fought her – he was so maddened by pain "We have to save him!" He wailed.

Lex thought quickly, the spreading cloud of sorrow was looming up inside her, threatening to engulf her, but even now her brain was working to protect her children. Every second they stayed here put them in greater danger. The Queen and the falling crane had caused untold damage to the complex – not to mention the destruction of the bridge and Scar's explosives. How long would it remain afloat? Even now, she could feel it shake every time a large wave hit and to her they seemed to be lower in the water than when she had first come up on deck.

"We'll find him!" She said, not knowing if there was any hope "We'll get him Selim, but right now we have to climb up! It's not safe here!" She turned to the other boy "Go on Isaac, I've got him now." In reality she was worried that if he stayed, Selim might do something in his grief that would end up knocking them all off into the sea. At least she could give Isaac the chance to get to safety "Please!" She told him "Just start climbing!"

Isaac obeyed her slowly, in the manner of one who is shell-shocked – but Selim was clutching at her now, wracked by shuddering sobs.

"We can climb down Mommy," He pleaded "You are the best climber in the world, you can go and save him!"

"We will save him!" She told him urgently "But first we need to get to the shuttle! We can use it to fly down. Then we'll use the scanners to find him Selim, I promise!"

She forced herself to say the words even though somewhere deep down she knew she was lying to him and lying to herself too.

The rain had stopped but now a thick, dank layer of fog had seeped in from somewhere. The wind was still high and the sea still felt rough. She could hear the waves beating against the structure, the swell as big as houses "Scar must have been knocked unconscious by the current and he wasn't wearing his wristcom," She thought "And with the Queen holding onto him, there's no way he could have escaped the water… he must be…" She stopped herself, afraid of what she might do if she allowed herself to think about it "No! No." She told herself fiercely "He's _not_ dead and we _will_ find him; we'll scour the ocean until we do!"

Selim was looking at her, those luminous, innocent eyes blinking through tears and rain. It was heartbreaking to see how completely he trusted her; expecting her to make it all ok even though she couldn't, nobody could. She felt like she was betraying that trust but she also knew she had to get them both out of here.

"Come on," She said, crushing her own anguish "The faster we get to the ship the faster we can start looking!"

He nodded, her obedient little boy once more.

As quickly as she could, she began hauling him back up the chain. He made some efforts to climb himself, but his movements were clumsy and mechanical, like a zombie. Above them Isaac had already reached the top, pulling himself back onto steadier ground. She only hoped he'd have the sense to make his way back to the shuttle.

Lex struggled on grimly, having to do the climbing for both of them as Selim was a virtual dead weight. The fog was now so thick she could hardly see where the chain ended. It took her so long she almost wished she could do the same; give in to her grief and collapse; allow herself to slip down into oblivion. There were moments when the urge threatened to overwhelm her but she couldn't let it, for Selim's sake. Scar would not want that for either of them.

 _"Do not waste your time quivering with sympathy for me, soft meat…"_

"I must have learned your trick for blocking out pain after all, you cold-blooded bastard," She thought dully "Otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this."

She reached the top of the chain, about to haul herself and Selim both onto the deck … and froze.

For the second time that day she found herself looking up the barrel of a gun, into the piercing blue gaze of Diana Weyland.

* * *

 **Author's note: Don't hate me! I know it's been a while and this chapter is kind of a downer but believe me, this was always the way the story was going to go. It's not finished yet though. Hope you enjoy it, insofar as that's possible. Love and hugs x**


	40. Chapter 40

"So in the end it comes down to us," Weyland sighed "Just me and the woman who let my father die. It's justice of a sort, I suppose."

She stood at the top of the incline yanking Isaac's head back by his hair, the muzzle of the pistol pressed up under his chin.

"Stay where you are or he dies." She said sharply as Lex made a movement to pull herself and Selim up onto the deck "I _will_ shoot him Woods, if you don't do exactly what I say," She went on conversationally "And then I'll shoot you and the other one you've got there. You'll all die."

Lex became still; she had her plasma cannon in her hip holster but she could not let go of either the chain or Selim to use it, certainly not without Weyland noticing.

"If I die, Weyland so will you." She said levelly "There's no way off this fortress except on my ship."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

One of her sons was almost insensible in her arms and the other had a gun to his head. They were dependent on her, as helpless as the tiny creature sleeping and growing in her belly. She didn't dare to gamble with their lives; _"My children are all I have left …"_

"Just let us up Weyland," She sighed "Let my boys live and and I'll fly you wherever you want to go."

"You think it's that easy?" Weyland snorted "I'm sorry Woods but that's not good enough."

"What does that mean?"

"We've been here before, haven't we _Lex?_ " The CEO eyed her coldly "I hold your children hostage, you escape and cause a bloodbath – "

"I've already said I'll get you out of here, just me pull us up and I'll fly us all out of here."

"I'm not about to trust you. Not this time. I've done that before and look where it got me. No." Weyland gave a mirthless smile "This time I think you need to know how serious I am. This time, I'm going to have to ask you to choose."

Lex squinted up at her, too worn down by misery and exhaustion to decode what she was hearing "I don't understand, choose what?"

"Choose which one is going to live; the original... or the clone."

It took a few seconds for the words to penetrate; then Lex's eyes went wide "You can't do that!"

"Don't test me Woods." The CEO told her "With a gun to your child's throat I can do whatever I want. You're about to learn the hard way; nobody crosses me. Not without paying for it. Not even you."

"Weyland please, you don't need to do this!" Lex said desperately "Just let them live and I'll do whatever you want, I swear it!"

"I told you what I want; I want you to choose."

Lex stared up at her as a quake shook the platform. It could have been a massive wave or maybe another part of the structure was crumbling; through the sea spray and heavy fog she couldn't tell.

"Better hurry up, the clock is ticking."

For a few moments Lex was silent "No." She said finally "I won't choose. I'm not playing your sick game."

"Then I'll just pick one myself," Weyland arched an eyebrow and inclined her head towards the frightened boy in her grasp "Now is this one the prototype or is it the replica, I wonder? I never could tell them apart. Not that it matters to me…"

Lex's eyes were like obsidian, glinting with loathing "Any harm you do to him, I'll do to you."

"You know your problem Woods? You've forgotten that he's not a real person, neither of them are; not like a real human child! You've let yourself get far too attached to these little mongrels but then… I suppose it's not surprising for a woman who let herself get pregnant by that disgusting thing – "

A shape loomed up out of the fog to Weyland's left and she screamed in terror as it cannoned into her, knocking Isaac aside and almost throwing Weyland to the floor.

Lex stared in amazement as Professor Iversson grappled desperately with her former employer.

"Isaac, get back!" She screamed, pulling herself and her son onto the deck and dragging him out of the way as the other two women struggled dangerously close to the edge.

She could see the Professor was weak. Weyland was smaller but she still had the gun and there was blood oozing down Iversson's deathly white face. Lex dragged her plasma cannon from her hip holster but she just couldn't get a clear shot.

Too late! There was the crack of a pistol shot and Iversson reeled backwards. She stared at up Weyland as if she couldn't quite believe it and then down at the red stain seeping slowly through her clothes. Then she fell to her knees.

Suddenly Isaac leapt on Weyland, shocking them all.

 _"You hurt my Mommy!"_ He screamed, grabbing hold of her arm, sinking his teeth into her. Instinctively Weyland squealed in pain and yanked her arm away, shoving Isaac violently. He reeled sideways, thrown off balance, teetering for a split second on the edge. Lex lunged, frantically grabbing for him. Seconds stretched into an eternity of horror as she watched him teetering, trying to get his footing; his outstretched hands just beyond her fingertips.

Then he fell, disappearing with a scream into the fog.

She threw herself down at the edge, but she already knew it was futile. He was lost, just like Scar. Gone forever. Lost to the waves.

Lex lay there for a moment as the panic gripped her and then a flood of despair, then the terrible, chest-caving guilt. She was crippled by it, flattened by it.

"Isaac …" She croaked, hardly able to speak past the huge lump of misery that was racing up her throat.

In the stillness, she heard the double rachet of the pistol reloading.

With that noise her blurry vision suddenly clicked into focus and she wheeled and launched herself at Diana Weyland, unsheathing her blades as she leapt. The other woman's hand came up, holding the weapon but for Lex it was as if time had slowed down.

She swung the dah'kte, cutting off the hand holding the gun at the wrist. As the lump of flesh and metal dropped onto the deck, she brought the other blade up underneath Weyland's arm, plunging it into her gut.

Diana's face was only inches away from hers. Her mouth fell open but no sound escaped. She stared at Lex in disbelief. Tears trembled in her ice blue eyes but Lex's eyes were dry as she pulled back her free arm and drove the knives through Weyland's heart.

She leaned in close to the other woman's tiny, perfect ear, her breath stirring a strand of hair as she felt her pulse stutter.

"Up close and personal," She whispered in a shaking voice "Just like I promised."

* * *

Lex pulled the wrist knives free, letting Weyland's body drop. Then she sank to the ground, curling in on herself in a foetal coil of pain and misery. Now hot tears of misery squeezed out between her lids and traced a path through the blood and grime on her cheeks.

"Scar," She whispered "Isaac…"

The deck shuddered beneath her again and her eyes flew open, the sobs building up in her chest sucked backwards, buried deep, deep down inside. Without a second glance at Weyland's corpse she went to where Selim sat huddled on the floor, sheathing her blades as she did so. She lifted him, folding him in her arms for a moment, rocking him like an infant.

"Baby," She cooed, kissing the top of his head "My poor baby. I'm sorry Selim but we still have to get to the ship sweetheart. Selim, I'm so sorry but I need you to go on being brave, just like when you fought the Queen!"

He clutched her even harder and she ached for him. He had lost his father and his first and only friend, all in the space of half an hour.

A cough behind her and she remembered suddenly about Iversson. Not releasing her hold on Selim, she ran to kneel by the Professor. Iversson didn't look good; her face was drawn and grey. The dark, red stain seemed bigger now as the blood soaked through her clothes.

"Alexa," The Professor held out a hand to ward her off "Go… "

"That's not happening Professor."

"Leave me – "

"No." She said. A determination possessed her. She had let Scar die and let Isaac fall, but she would not allow Isaac's mother to die.

"Selim," She said, setting her son on his feet "I need to put you down baby, Iversson needs my help." He just nodded dumbly and she grabbed the Professor's arm.

"Get up Iversson," She snapped, grabbing hold of the Professor's arm "On your feet."

"There's no point…" The older woman moaned "Isaac's dead. My little boy is dead…"

"Bullshit, he might be alive!" Lex gasped, hoisting Iversson up onto her shoulder "The faster we get to my ship the faster we'll find him! Come on!" She managed to drag Iversson a few steps when the Professor's legs buckled underneath her and she sank back onto the floor "Come on!" She railed "Stop being so weak! You're not dead yet, are you?"

Iversson gave a faint smile, hardly conscious "You sound like the exotic," She murmured. Lex didn't answer but began tearing strips off the Professor's coat, the only loose fabric she could see around, using it to form makeshift bandages, working quickly. She figured if she could just stem the blood flow Iversson might regain consciousness "Otherwise I might have to leave her," She thought desperately "I have to save my son… but I can't abandon her!"

"Mother…" Selim said uncertainly.

"Just a moment baby," Lex pressed her lips together and turned back to the other woman "Iversson you have to at least try to stand," She pleaded "I can't just leave you …"

As she said this another rumbling quake shook the deck, causing Iversson to wince in pain.

"Mei'Varsi,!" Said Selim again, more urgently this time "Mei'Varsi look!"

For a second she didn't understand; then she followed the direction of his outstretched talon.

The chain hanging down from the grapnel was pulled taught, as if by a weight hanging from the other end. It was moving; shivering and jumping. Something was climbing.

 _"The Queen!"_ A little needle of fear entered her brain "But... surely she's at the bottom of the sea!"

* * *

Scar drifted … stranded in some weird limbo-place. He opened his eyes and could see only shifting clouds of vapour. All around him was silent. The Queen and everything else had vanished like a bad dream and now he was utterly alone, floating in nothingness.

"I am dead," He thought "Somehow I imagined it would be more painful… more significant…"

He wondered vaguely if he had drowned or if in fact the massive electrical shock had killed him. He imagined the former, most likely "My body must have sunk down under the waters by now," He thought "Myself and the Queen, entwined forever. I can think of more pleasant partners to share my eternity with!"

Gradually he began to hear a strange noise; a persistent hiss, like that of static. It didn't bother him much at first but then it got louder and louder. Then suddenly with a rush his hearing came back, the soundscape flooded in on him from all sides. All around, the wind was howling and above him he could hear the churning of the water. Then his brain registered that he could also feel icy water sleeting against his skin, so cold it seemed almost to be freezing onto it.

"But surely there is no sensation in the void," He groaned, blinking groggily "If I can feel I must still be alive but then… why is there water above me? It does not make sense!"

For a few seconds he was bewildered, then all at once he understood; he was hanging upside down, somehow suspended above the water. Not only that, but now he had fully regained consciousness he realised various parts of his body were transmitting information, a barrage of pain. His ankle and his leg were burning despite the sub-zero temperature and there were stripes of searing agony like whip-strokes across his back.

"But considering I was not expecting to ever wake up, a decided improvement…" He thought, bludgeoning his brain to try and unravel the situation "The Queen must have lost her hold on me after the electrical shock shut down her synaptic function – the thumper does tend to make the hard meat collapse like flayed-off skin – and the weight of the tower would have dragged her under! But then… how did I not end up in the sea with her?"

A moment's investigation revealed the answer; the grapple gun.

He remembered letting go of the chain but he had forgotten that the gun was still attached to him; the leather straps across his back had acted like a harness. He had not fired the second grapnel of the coil, so the final grapnel still lodged inside the barrel!

Scar looked around but the foggy murk shrouded everything. He reached, the movement causing a little spear of agony to shoot through his shoulder, and switched his mask to thermal vision. Now he could see the chain disappearing up and over the lip of the slope, so the grapnel must still be attached to the deck. If it had not been so, Scar had no doubt he would be far beneath the surface of the water by now.

He grinned to himself "I knew this was my favourite weapon for a reason! Fortunate that it is solidly made…" His grin faded as a strong tremor shook him "I was forgetting; the same cannot be said for this human construction – time to leave!"

He began to pull himself up the chain, the muscles in his arms and legs were complaining but the thought of the two children hanging perilously over the drop spurred him to climb faster.

Then he heard a shrill voice from above, muffled by the blanket of fog but getting louder as he listened; a child's scream

Scar's head snapped upwards; his mask gun-sights zeroing in on a small shape hurtling down the steep slope towards him. Instinctively he wrapped one fist round the chain and thrust out an arm...

* * *

Isaac slid down and down; arms flailing, trying to grab onto something, claws scraping uselessly on the metal. He could hardly even breathe; it was as if the air was rushing past too rapidly to be able to suck it in.

Suddenly something grabbed him, shooting out from nowhere, iron claws were crushing him, feeling like they had pierced his skin and he was winded, emptying his lungs in one big, shocked gasp. Then … as the pain faded away he realised he could no longer feel the strange yawning in the pit of his stomach or the wind rushing past; he was no longer falling.

Something warm wrapped around him. Isaac didn't know how long he stayed there, almost insensible, before the thing he was resting on swam into focus and he saw it was an arm. As spots flashed across his vision he noticed it was the same colour and pattern as his own mottled flesh.

"Selim?" He said dazedly "Is that you?"

"No, not Selim," Said the deep, abrasive voice right by his ear.

"Father," Isaac murmured "You're Selim's Father…"

"Do not worry boy." The voice growled "I have you…"

Isaac looked up into those blank, black eyeholes; that glowering mask spattered with blood and rain. He wrapped his arms around that huge neck, resting his head on one metal plated shoulder, hardly feeling how the edge of the armour bit into his lip; only caring that it was solid and warm and holding him tight.

The whole time the alien's words echoing in his brain, frightening and comforting all at once.

" _I have you.… "_

* * *

Lex pushed Selim backwards, unsheathing her blades as a clawed hand appeared over the lip of the drop, grabbing hold of the chain.

Both she and Selim stared as a he materialised out of the clinging fog, looking like he clawing his way out of the netherworld, a small shape clinging to him.

Scar was back from the land of the dead and somehow... somehow he brought Isaac back with him.

There was no room in her brain to wonder how he had managed to cheat fate or why the Queen had let him go or how he had managed to get hold of Isaac, all was washed away by the deluge of relief as she watched him haul them both back onto the deck.

Selim leapt to his feet _"Daddy!"_ He screamed _"Isaac!"_ He ran to his father, throwing himself into his arms so fiercely that Scar was almost knocked back over the edge, taken by surprise. He managed to keep his balance, grabbing hold of Selim with his free arm while the boy squeezed him as if his life depended on it.

Lex's face remained calm she had to stay calm for the sake of the children – but her voice cracked as she said "You're alive."

" _Of course!"_ He glanced around, his gaze flickering indifferently over Weyland's bloodied and mutilated corpse and Iversson's limp form _"Why are you not on the shuttle?"_ He growled, as if all the intervening violence and bloodshed had not happened _"This structure is going to collapse at any moment!"_

Lex shook herself back awake; his words echoing her thoughts. Over the wailing of the wind, they could hear the complex creaking like a ghost ship.

"Scar I cannot move her," She gestured to the Professor "We have to get her onto the ship!"

Immediately he lowered the children to the floor and went to snatch up the crumpled body of the woman, "Careful!" Lex warned "She's been injured!"

Scar nodded, lifting the scientist as carefully as he could; Iversson looked to be out cold _"Probably for the best!"_ He thought. He could feel the warmth of the blood seeping through her clothes. With his mask he could see where the bullet had pierced her; he grimaced.

Then another tremor shook the complex, stronger than before. There was a sound like an angry Tyrannosaur as, behind them, another part of the deck crumbled into the sea. At the same moment, the floor reverberated, as if the complex had jumped.

" _Come on!"_ He snarled as she seized the hands of both children and all of them began to run, staggering first to one side and then the other as the deck shifted under them, Scar carrying the unconscious Iversson in his arms. They thundered up the gangway onto the Chameleon, almost losing their footing as the unstable structure rocked.

"Take her to the medipod!" Lex bawled at Scar over the rumbling as she dragged the children inside the airlock "I can take off!"

He snorted, but he didn't argue with her as she ran to the cockpit. Scar had no problem with Lex flying the shuttle; in fact he privately suspected that she was a better pilot than he was, though he would never have admitted it.

He deposited Iversson in the medipod and flipped the control to close the lid, racing back to the cockpit to find her frantically pushing buttons to wake the shuttle console. As the desk hummed into life, red characters scrolling quickly across the screen, there was a louder rumble. A tremor shook the Chameleon like an earthquake, nearly knocking the two children off their feet.

Leaving him to start the engines, Lex whirled round from the desk and hurriedly pushed the two boys into the co-pilot seat, pulling the huge turbulence harness across them both. She spun back towards Scar as his talons flew across the controls and they heard the whirr of the turbines start. Both of them held their breath, listening to the sound getting stronger, ramping up gradually to a throbbing drone as the engine power gauge crept slowly up and up towards the point where they could take off.

Before the gauge could reach its apex, the shuttle was rocked by a seismic vibration and the deck finally gave way under the Chameleon. The cockpit was turned on its side and Scar grabbed hold of the console, throwing an arm round Lex to stop them both being hurled against the wall. As the shuttle dropped towards the freezing ocean, the engine gauge finally peaked. Lex lunged in Scar's arms, seizing the steering column and thrusting it violently forward. The Chameleon shot away, the blast of super-heat from the engines disintegrating the falling section of deck and sending the ship skimming out across the waves just a short distance above the surface. It banked sharply for a moment but Lex hauled on the steering column, managing to bring the nose up and get the craft to right itself.

Gradually they began to gain height. As the floor of the cockpit became level again she pulled back more gently on the column. The Chameleon continued to climb smoothly until she was able to bring it around in a gentle curve, back over the complex.

When finally they had reached a safe altitude, she set the autopilot to circle the ruined fortress. Scar pushed a few buttons on the desk, switching to EMI vision that could penetrate even the thick grey mist. Still in each other's arms, they watched silently as another huge chunk of North Island crumbled into the sea. South Island was already a blackened ruin, smoke still rising despite the rain and the clinging water vapour.

"We have to finish it." Lex said flatly and Scar turned to look at her, pulling off his mask "It has to be completely destroyed," She said "We can't risk any of the hard meat reaching the mainland."

"Yes," He hissed "We will annihilate them." Then he grinned down at her "So perish all of our enemies, demon!"

She smiled back at him, and then her eyes went wide "Oh God!" She hissed "Iversson!"

He set her down gently "Do what you must." He said "Leave the bugs' nest to me."


	41. Chapter 41

"Iversson?"

Gazing down at the woman's face, Lex felt the familiar prickle of dread. Iversson was as still and cold as an effigy on top of a tomb. The improvised dressings must have done something, the patch of blood from the gunshot wound was no bigger… but she looked so lifeless.

She pressed two fingers lightly to the scientist's throat. At Lex's touch, her eyelids fluttered.

"Alexa," She croaked "What happened?"

"Isaac is alive!" Beaming, Lex took her hand, squeezed it.

The Professor blinked dazedly "What?"

"I don't know how but Scar managed to save him! He's alive!"

"Thank heaven." Iversson closed her eyes with relief.

"So you've got to recover," Lex squeezed her hand again, trying to transmit some warmth into the cold flesh "For Isaac's sake. We'll have to deal with your injury – " She reached over to try and touch the bandages but the injured woman laid a feeble hand on her wrist.

"No... please..."

"I know it hurts," Lex said gently "But I have to look at it if I'm going to help you – "

"Alexa, I'm dying."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Lex burst out "You're going to be fine, just let me – "

"Please, listen to me…" Iversson's voice was weak, but the urgency of her tone made her listen "I need you to… p-promise me… something,"

"You already know we'll look after him!" Lex squeezed Iversson's hand tightly "You don't even have to ask that; Isaac's like a brother to Selim. I'll keep him safe and I'll love him, I swear it!"

"I know," Iversson smiled faintly up at her "But it's something... more difficult I must ask…"

"Ask it."

"I want you to tell Isaac he and Selim are… real twins, born at the same time… that he's not … a clone."

Lex stared at her "What?"

"I want Isaac to believe … I took him from you… when you were in Nevada…"

"But that doesn't make sense; Selim wasn't even born in Nevada! I was still pregnant when I escaped!"

"Isaac doesn't know that… Selim probably doesn't… truly understand… if you and the exotic think of a story… stick to it… they'll believe … the new baby too…" She smiled and raised a faltering hand to brush Lex's stomach.

"But … but it's a lie!"

"I know… I'm sorry to… put this burden on you."

"Why? Why do you want me to lie to him? To them both? It's not fair!"

"Alexa please – you must see, this is the only way Isaac can have… real parents…I want him to have Selim as his … real brother… not see himself as a clone…"

"But how can I explain why we never came to get him back? He'll think that we didn't want him!"

"Tell him… I lied… told you he was… dead..."

Lex stared at her for a few moments in silence "But… you _love_ him." She said finally "What if it makes him hate you, thinking you told all these lies?"

"I… have to put him first… for once," Iversson shut her eyes again, when she opened them they were wet with tears "It's my last sacrifice," She said "My last … gift … to him…"

Lex stared at her, unsure what to do; her first reaction was that deception on such a scale sounded horrible and wrong but the more she considered it… the more the idea made a weird kind of sense.

Genetically Selim and Isaac _were_ brothers, they might as well have been twins. Genetically, she and Scar _were_ his parents; he was a product of their combined DNA just like Selim. In her heart she felt him to be her child, what did it matter if she had never carried him inside her? It was a lie, but a lie but so close to the truth it almost didn't matter…

"But it would mean a lifetime of deceit," She thought "Not just deceiving Isaac, but Selim as well. This new baby too. And what about Scar, would he ever agree to it?"

Iversson was watching her anxiously "Please Alexa… please let me do this for him…"

"Mommy?"

Isaac stood hesitating on the threshold, looking fearfully at Iversson lying inside the strange metal sarcophagus.

"Darling… my darling boy…" Iversson smiled at him despite the pain. She tried to hold her arms out to him but she was too weak.

"It's alright Isaac," Lex said "You can come in if you want to."

She put a hand on the boy's shoulder to reassure him, guiding him over to the Professor's side.

Iversson's smile stayed on her face as the boy came near, though Lex could see she must be in agony "Isaac," She whispered "Precious… I have to… leave you…"

Isaac's eyes were full of tears already "Please don't go away." He said, his voice breaking "Stay with me Mommy!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm… dying… " Iversson lifted her hand to stroke Isaac's face, shaking so badly she could hardly hold it up "I …. love you… so much my darling, please ….please remember that…"

"Don't go Mommy," Isaac clutched her arm anxiously "Don't leave me alone!"

Lex stood and watched the Professor stroke the boy's forehead with a faltering hand, trying to swallow down the lump forming in her own throat, holding back the tears for Isaac's sake.

"Can I really do this?" She thought "If I don't, I'd be throwing away the chance for both Selim and Isaac to have a real brother! What right have I got to take that from them?"

* * *

Scar sat in the pilot seat, his talons dancing across the controls. Selim was beside him. After Lex left the cockpit his son had slipped into the chair next to him, holding on as if he never planned to let his father out of his sight again.

Scar didn't object, he felt triumphant _"Just when I thought this day could not be any more pleasing to me, my son has killed a Queen – and he has not yet achieved five solar cycles in age! I will make a warrior of him yet!"_

" _Of course, he did not do it alone…"_ His gaze slid over to where Isaac sat in the co-pilot seat _"The facsimile also showed courage."_

The other boy seemed mesmerised, watching on the screen as the Chameleon's plasma cannons scythed through the legs holding the Weyland complex above the water. _"Perhaps he is an abominable replica, what do I care? I saw the way he killed the hard meat!"_ He grinned to himself _"Yes, he is definitely worthy of my consideration… "_

He snapped back to the task in hand; systematically destroying the supports until both halves of the structure crumbled and slid beneath the waves, never to rise again.

Scar purred with satisfaction _"Let them rot in the underwater tomb they intended for me!"_

He was in the process of programming a destination into the autopilot when he looked up and realised Isaac was missing. At some point the boy must have got up from the co-pilot's seat and slipped out unnoticed. Scar flipped the switch to activate the autopilot and rose to his feet. Selim followed, all but glued to his father's side.

Cursing under his breath, Scar padded down the corridor towards the medi-pod chamber. He knew that was where the boy must have gone. Doubtless, Isaac wanted to know what was happening to the human scientist but Scar knew there could be no good outcome for her. Strangely, part of him wanted to protect the boy; to shield him even though he didn't know how.

When he reached the medipod chamber, it was as he had expected; the scientist was dying. He didn't need any tests or machinery to tell him that. It was evident in her pallor, in her uneven breaths, in her fluttering, birdlike movements.

Lex had her hand on Isaac's shoulder as the facsimile clutched at Iversson's arm. His distress was very great.

When Selim saw this, he immediately relinquished his hold on Scar and went to stand next to Isaac. His son didn't say anything, just stood close to the other boy so their shoulders were touching.

Scar was about to enter the room when Lex raised her eyes to meet his and he froze in the doorway, transfixed.

In that moment everything about her seemed to conspire to seduce; her pregnancy, always so fascinating to him; the wild black hair like a halo of shadow around her head; the blood staining her soft mouth and throat and chest, making her look as if she had devoured her fellow humans alive.

And her eyes. More than anything else it was her eyes that stopped him in his tracks.

"Scar," She said "She's dying."

He nodded. Of course she was dying, he had seen her injuries.

Then Iversson spoke, her voice just a thin thread of sound "Isaac… should know… the truth…"

Scar's scowled as he approached the medipod "The truth?"

"He's yours…" Iversson gasped and choked, struggling to get the words out through a mouthful of blood "Isaac…he's your… son… you and Lex…"

Both boys turned to stare at him in astonishment "W-what do you mean Mommy?" Whimpered Isaac, turning back towards the scientist with huge pleading eyes.

"Isaac they… are your parents," She raised a trembling finger towards Scar and Lex "I s-stole you… it was wrong… I… I'm sorry …" She grasped his wrist "D-darling … please … f-forgive me… "

Scar couldn't process the scientist's words for a moment; he turned to look at Lex, waiting for her to make some sense of this madness.

"It is true Isaac." She said in a strange voice "You are our son… isn't he Scar?

His brow drew down as he stared into her eyes, for a moment he was lost, searching her face to try and understand _"Why is she telling this lie? Agreeing with the scientist when we both know it is not the case?"_

He could feel both females and the two children watching him, waiting for him to speak.

"Is it true Mei'Savir?" Selim breathed "Is Isaac truly my brother?"

Scar wanted to answer but he couldn't look away from her huge dark eyes. They were black on black, just like they had been in his dream and they seemed to have a gravitational pull all their own, a vortex that dragged him in.

Suddenly he realised it didn't matter why she wanted it _"Whatever the reason,"_ He thought _"For me there is no choice. There has never been any choice. If she says Isaac must be our son then he shall be so from this moment. I can deny her nothing."_

He could feel the force of her will beating against him, beautiful and terrible like sunlight.

" _Give me this thing S'Kia and it will all be yours; everything you want in one fatal blow._ _ **Surrender**_ _."_

He could not withstand those black, black eyes.

"It is true," He said, _"Mei'Sika."_

From far away he heard the scientist's choking breaths stutter and then stop and

Isaac's broken wail as he flung himself across her. He clung to her, his small body racked by sobs, while Lex and Selim held onto him as if he was in danger of being washed away.

Scar stared down at them in horror. Now he felt like he was about to drown, dumbfounded by this outpouring of misery. Suddenly the wave of their grief and pain loomed up before him; too big, too close, too raw… and he was powerless to stop it.

Unable to help himself, he wrapped his arms possessively around them; his female and all of his children.

* * *

Six months later:

* * *

Isaac struggled awake with a gasp, tears streaming down his face. He listened in the darkness for the familiar sighing of the waves around the complex. Instead he could hear the pulsing of huge engines.

For a moment he was panic stricken, then he heard Selim's deep, even breathing from across the room and remembered where he was; on the Chameleon. Knowing Selim was there made him felt better. Isaac always found reassurance in the presence of his brother.

"My twin brother." He thought, savouring the words.

Lex and S'Kia called them the twins now. They had done so ever since Isaac had come on board the spaceship he now called home. Sometimes Isaac felt like he had been with them so long that he had difficulty remembering anything else, other times – like tonight – he would be suddenly filled with fear, bewildered at the strangeness of it all.

He tried crawling into the bed next to Selim. Sometimes when he felt miserable just being close to Selim's warm sleeping body was enough. Not tonight though. Tonight he felt like there were too many memories crashing around, just like the waves had once crashed against the glass wall of his old room.

He got up in the darkness and crept to the door, pressed the release button, and peered out. Apart for the ever-present noise of the engines, all was still. The ship's low level nighttime lights washed everything in a red glow.

Isaac slipped out and crept down the corridor that led towards the cockpit. He didn't know where he was going – there wasn't really anywhere to go on this spaceship – he just wanted to get out of the dark little room.

Isaac glanced around nervously. He did not want to run into S'Kia.

He had mostly come to accept that the hunter wasn't a monster, at least not the kind of monster Isaac had imagined. Not a monster in the same way as the horrible smiling devils were monsters, but still…. still there were times when he dreamed about what S'Kia had done to Farrell.

In truth, Isaac still found Selim's father frightening "Except he's my father too now." He remembered uneasily. That fact on its own was so strange he didn't know what to think about it … he almost couldn't think about it. Isaac had never had a father before "I wonder if all fathers are as scary as mine." He thought.

Cautiously he put his head around the doorway into the cockpit and stopped short. In here, the red of night time gave way to a beautiful shimmering light. It was coming from the screen over the console which showed hundreds and hundreds of glittering stars flying past.

Isaac gasped, he couldn't help it. He had never seen anything so lovely.

"It's really something, isn't it?"

He jumped as Lex's face appeared round the side of the pilot seat, the chair was so big he hadn't been able to see her sitting there.

"Can't sleep, huh?" She said.

"I – I'm sorry," Isaac stammered "I didn't mean to get out of bed – "

"It's OK, I come out here sometimes when I can't sleep." She beckoned him "Come and watch the stars with me."

Isaac hesitated, glancing around nervously. He suspected the hunter would not be so forgiving of his nighttime wanderings.

She smiled then, as if she knew just what was worrying him "S'Kia's sleeping," She said "Even he has to sleep sometime."

Tentatively he approached and she patted the seat next to her "Come on, this chair's big enough for both of us, even now I'm so humongous!"She pulled him in beside her, putting an arm round him and he huddled against her side. It was true that her belly was huge now, but in a way it was comforting. It felt like a big warm cushion and he snuggled against it gratefully.

"Having nightmares again?" She asked, stroking his forehead.

"Yes," He admitted in a small voice.

"Was it about your Mommy?"

He nodded against the blind softness of her belly, not trusting himself to speak.

"It's OK if it was."

"I still miss her," He admitted, voice cracking "I know you're my Mom now but I – ".

"Isaac it's OK to miss her." She said softly "It's normal to miss her. I do."

"But why did she have to die?"

"She was very badly injured."

"I mean… why did Weyland kill her?"

"Because Weyland was a bad person, she wanted to hurt you and your Mommy was protecting you."

"But it's not fair!"

She sighed "Sometimes there just isn't a good reason why bad things happen to good people."

"But wasn't she bad too? Mommy said … I mean Iversson said… she said she stole me from you!" He looked up at her, his eyes brimming with tears "Why would she do that?"

"She loved you," She looked sad, almost as if she might cry herself "Isaac you have to remember that. Whatever Iversson did, she always loved you."

"But she wasn't even my real Mom!"

"Well sometimes that doesn't matter. Love is what matters and she loved you." She squeezed him "And anyway, I **am** your real Mom and I love you very much."

"But why did she lie?"

"Isaac she made a mistake, it's human to make mistakes."

"But I'm not human, not like you and her!" He burst out in anguish. "I'm not even a real person, just like Farrell said!" He was crying now, his childish shoulders heaving with distress. She held him, letting him sob for a while, his tears wet against her skin.

Eventually he became still and his gasps ceased and she lifted his chin up so that she could look him in the face.

"Listen to me," She told him firmly "Weyland and Farrell were wrong. They were wrong ok?"

He nodded uncertainly.

"You are my son and I love you." She said "Human or yautja, it doesn't matter, I still love you."

He sniffed "How can it not matter?"

She shrugged "Look sweetheart, I don't even know if I'm human anymore…I don't feel human but I'm not yautja either. I don't know just what I am now… but Isaac it doesn't matter because everybody – whether they're human or yautja or something else – everybody is only trying to make their way in this world. You just have to look after the people you love, like we are going to look after you and Selim and your little future playmate in here." She smoothed the tight curve of her stomach.

Isaac rubbed his eyes, momentarily distracted. In truth the idea of the baby was both disturbing and exciting. He hadn't really understood what the swelling meant until she'd explained to him that another child would soon be here and that child would be his brother or sister. He was just getting used to having one brother and now he was going to have another? Isaac found it all a little overwhelming but he also liked to think that soon there would be a baby to play with.

"Is it going to be human or yautja?" He asked.

She shrugged again "A little of both. Want to listen?"

"What will I hear?"

"Secret baby stuff," She grinned "Go ahead and find out."

He laid his ear against her stomach, tentatively at first "It sounds like the sea," He listened more "And I can hear bumping."

"That's the baby's heartbeat."

"I hope that he'll be here soon," Isaac yawned. The rushing sea sound and the thumping of the tiny heart were making him relaxed and sleepy. His eyelids were very heavy as he curled himself up next to her, feeling like he was listening to the calm waves once again. After a few minutes he was asleep.

Lex sat and held him like for a long time, letting the tears run down her face as the stars drifted past like clouds of fireflies.

* * *

 **Author's note: Thanks again for all the love for the last chapter people! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Please review and let me know what you think. I'm nearly finished with this story but not quite. Just one more instalment to go!**


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